mgoblog - brandon moorehttp://mgoblog.com/taxonomy/term/4857/0
enSenior Day Haiku 2012http://mgoblog.com/content/senior-day-haiku-2012
<h3><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/20090912231722_26-umvnd1.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="20090912231722_26-umvnd[1]" border="0" alt="20090912231722_26-umvnd[1]" align="right" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/20090912231722_26-umvnd1_thumb.jpg" width="304" height="192" /></a>Craig Roh</h3>
<p>A leaf blows in fall <br />Tasting each position once <br />Time to duck, Martinez</p>
<h3>Will Campbell</h3>
<p>These days people who <br />are not Thomas Gordon say <br />&quot;Get off of me, please&quot;</p>
<h3><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/JordanKovacsMichiganvNotreDamehcY6ms5iF8jl1.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Jordan Kovacs Michigan v Notre Dame hcY6ms5iF8jl[1]" border="0" alt="Jordan Kovacs Michigan v Notre Dame hcY6ms5iF8jl[1]" align="right" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/JordanKovacsMichiganvNotreDamehcY6ms5iF8jl1_thumb.jpg" width="304" height="245" /></a>Jordan Kovacs</h3>
<p>A man from nowhere <br />is the safety blanket for <br />a hundred thousand</p>
<h3>Kenny Demens</h3>
<p>As Northwestern died <br />they must have thought &quot;ouch&quot; and <br />&quot;my god, sweet mustache&quot;</p>
<h3>JT Floyd</h3>
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/UM-Floyd-ND-Floyd1.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="UM-Floyd-ND-Floyd[1]" border="0" alt="UM-Floyd-ND-Floyd[1]" align="right" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/UM-Floyd-ND-Floyd1_thumb.jpg" width="304" height="229" /></a>Sorry about things said <br />two years ago, low and mean <br />Mattison saves all</p>
<h3>Brandin Hawthorne</h3>
<p>We'll always have that <br />Purdue <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/picture-pages-hash-hash-zone-drop" target="_blank">hash to hash zone drop</a> <br />and a kickoff hold</p>
<h3>Brandon Moore</h3>
<p>Must be a good guy <br />to get Kramer's eighty-seven <br /><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/image.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" align="right" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/image_thumb.png" width="304" height="172" /></a>time to make stories</p>
<h3>Vincent Smith</h3>
<p>Meet mini-Gandalf: <br />finger-gun Balrog LB, <br />state YOU SHALL NOT PASS</p>
<h3>Elliott Mealer</h3>
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/tumblr_m9s369BwSH1rfy8h4o1_12801.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="tumblr_m9s369BwSH1rfy8h4o1_1280[1]" border="0" alt="tumblr_m9s369BwSH1rfy8h4o1_1280[1]" align="right" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/tumblr_m9s369BwSH1rfy8h4o1_12801_thumb.jpg" width="304" height="204" /></a>The measure of man: <br />how many squirrels can live <br />in your face, repos'd</p>
<h3>Ricky Barnum</h3>
<p>Stayed through some things <br />that would have made most depart <br />and we needed him to</p>
<h3>Patrick Omameh</h3>
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/386277_10150394019912616_648717615_8625136_973392225_n1.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="386277_10150394019912616_648717615_8625136_973392225_n[1]" border="0" alt="386277_10150394019912616_648717615_8625136_973392225_n[1]" align="right" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/386277_10150394019912616_648717615_8625136_973392225_n1_thumb.jpg" width="304" height="219" /></a>This dance goes one way <br />two hearts meet at Notre Dame <br />Te'o's goes backwards</p>
<h3>Mike Kwiatkowski</h3>
<p>Not a walk-on, no <br />A scientist of brains, yes <br />And blocker of sweeps</p>
<p><strong>[UPDATE:</strong> so I forgot Roy Roundtree. </p>
<h3>Roy Roundtree</h3>
<p>Joe Tiller quivers <br />in walrus rage as Roundtree <br />waves an arm, alone</p>
<p><strong>]</strong></p>
<h3>Denard Robinson</h3>
<p>I had been in the desert for some time, lost and directionless. The sun was relentless. A deadly thirst stalked me. I had not accepted the grisly fate which awaited me but was powerless to change it. </p>
<p>On the fifth night—possibly the sixth—a breeze arose. It was cool and dewy. I savored it for a time, then step by step it led me home. </p>
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/7958859750_26230aebbe_z1.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="7958859750_26230aebbe_z[1]" border="0" alt="7958859750_26230aebbe_z[1]" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Senior-Day-Haiku-2012_142B9/7958859750_26230aebbe_z1_thumb.jpg" width="564" height="335" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em>Upchurch</em></p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/senior-day-haiku-2012#commentsbrandin hawthornebrandon moorecraig rohdenard robinsonjordan kovacsjt floydkenny demenssenior day haikuvincent smithwill campbellFri, 16 Nov 2012 17:44:40 +0000Brian73737 at http://mgoblog.comWednesday Presser Transcript 10-10-12: Brady Hokehttp://mgoblog.com/content/wednesday-presser-transcript-10-10-12-brady-hoke
<p><strong>News bullets and other important items:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
Brandon Moore and Stephen Hopkins still have unclear injury status. They may or may not play Saturday.</li>
<li>
The staff is wearing the Chuckstrong t-shirts on the way to the stadium.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<h1>
Brady Hoke</h1>
<p><img alt="" rel="lightbox" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7798697740_fef772702d_o.jpg" /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><em>file</em></p>
<p><strong>Opening remarks:</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Uh, thanks for coming. Good practice yesterday. Liked how we&rsquo;re preparing right now. I think the intensity level hopefully will be the same today from an offensive standpoint. I think talking to Al, they got a lot of good work done yesterday. Defensively, I&rsquo;d say the same thing. I think both coordinators were pleased. I mean, not happy, but pleased with the preparation that we have.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Were the practices as good as they were last week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Uh, I think it was comparable. I think coming off the bye week and not playing for a week, I think you always have a little more intensity it seems like. I think they&rsquo;re comparable.&rdquo;</p>
<a name="more"></a><!--break--><!--break--><p><strong>Do you do anything differently to prepare for Scheelhaase?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, we do -- and I&rsquo;ve always done it with defensive linemen -- we do a little at the end of practice some chase the rabbit, we call it. Drills where you instill a mindset, a mentality, I think. With us going so much against each other, obviously 16&rsquo;s kind of hard to corral once in a while. I think that helps us as a team when you&rsquo;re playing against a guy like Scheelhaase.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You don&rsquo;t do too many ones on ones, do you?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah we do.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>During the season?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Oh yeah. Gotta have that speed. We&rsquo;ll do full line for 16 plays on Tuesday. We&rsquo;ll do first down drill and third down drill today. We still get after it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you mean by chase the rabbit?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You ever try to catch a rabbit?&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Yeah...?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re hard to catch. You have to stay after them and take angles.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Have you ever tried to catch a rabbit?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No, I have not.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you sense Devin Gardner getting more comfortable at receiver?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah I think so. I think it&rsquo;s the experience factor. You play against our guys a little bit, and we give them different looks, then you play against new people every week, then it&rsquo;s a little bit different how they want to play two-deep, how they want to play man inside or outside, how they&rsquo;re going to be physical at the line of scrimmage, are they going to play off -- there&rsquo;s a lot of different ways. The more he sees it I think the better he gets and the better he reacts.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You left a lot of points on the field against Illinois last year in the red zone. Have you discussed it much?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, we did last week, too. So that&rsquo;s been a big part of it. I think right they&rsquo;re the second in the league in red zone defense, so they&rsquo;re playing well down there. I think it&rsquo;s second. They&rsquo;re playing really good third down defense.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How would you rate how Tim Beckman has done with the transition?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not for me to say. I&rsquo;m not there every day. I know he&rsquo;s a good football coach.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>From your standpoint of having gone through it yourself though?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think everybody&rsquo;s different and every situation&rsquo;s different.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How would you like your returners to judge punts?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like them to catch them all and judge them correctly.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you tell them?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well you give a lot up to that guy. It&rsquo;s important. He&rsquo;s the one doing it every day. He&rsquo;s the one practicing it. Jeremy&rsquo;s done a nice job. I have a lot of faith and trust in him. Dileo&rsquo;s pretty good back there. Darboh&rsquo;s a guy who does a nice job, you know, practice-wise while we&rsquo;re going through it. &lsquo;Fleet&rsquo;s getting better. I think there&rsquo;s four guys back there that we have a lot of faith in. Obviously we think Jeremy&rsquo;s the best.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How happy are you with the tight end position in general?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I would say we&rsquo;re a work in progress there, too. You have two youngs guys playing big boy football. They&rsquo;re learning every week. I think we can be more physical there. As they grow and they&rsquo;re Wellmanized and all those things, you&rsquo;ll see that with them, which will lead to maybe a little more movement at the line of scrimmage. I think Mike Kwiatkowski has really done a pretty good job. I think he&rsquo;s gotten better. He&rsquo;s been called on to get better. And then Brandon&rsquo;s practicing and he&rsquo;s kind of back out there.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Could Brandon Moore play this week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Could. We&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Wellmanized?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How has Craig Roh done so far?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think Craig&rsquo;s had a good first third of the season or guess we&rsquo;re over that a little bit. He&rsquo;s done a nice job. New position, all that, leadership-wise, effort, how he comes to work every day. All those things I think he&rsquo;s done a nice job.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Craig is starting to call plays at the line of scrimmage. Are you pretty comfortable with him doing that?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah, Craig&rsquo;s really a sharp guy. It helps being smart because it&rsquo;s not easy to be honest with you. It used to be easy when I played. You played two defenses and that was it. One offensive scheme. Now you see a lot of different things and you have to have an intelligence to play.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you expect Stephen Hopkins back Saturday?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see how we keep moving through it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How does he change the run game?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well it depends. If you&rsquo;re in two backs. I think him and I&rsquo;ve really been happy with Joey. He&rsquo;s done a really nice job of blocking the point of attack, going to look up linebackers. He&rsquo;s doing a nice job. Paul [Gyarmati] is still there. We&rsquo;ve got some depth. And then Sione, who is taking reps and getting better.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What&rsquo;s your relationship like with Chuck Pagano?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, I know his brother John better from being out in San Diego. Chuck, I met years ago. A long time ago. But coach Mattison and coach Mallory, there&rsquo;s a strong relationship, family ties with the Mallorys obviously. Greg, coaching with him. He&rsquo;s one of ours. He&rsquo;s our kind of guy. So we want to pay a little tribute to him and also for the cause.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>When did you make the decision to do the ChuckStrong thing?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Probably Sunday night.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Will you wear them to the stadium or during warmups?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;To the stadium.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>MGoQuestion: Are you seeing the ability to call plays at the line of scrimmage from the rest of the defensive line?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re there yet with the entire line. I think we&rsquo;ve got a little better idea when you look at formation sets, backfield sets, all those things that you try, and you know there&rsquo;s a whole &lsquo;nother couple variables when you start looking at personnel groups and down and distance. So there&rsquo;s a lot you can overload, and I&rsquo;m one who doesn&rsquo;t like to overload unless a guy can handle it, and Craig&rsquo;s one of those guys who can handle it very well. Ryan a year ago handled it very well.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>MGoFollowup: Do you think it&rsquo;s possible the rest of the line gets to that level?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah, I think so.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What kind of development have you seen from Ondre Pipkins?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, he takes a couple steps forward and takes a half step back now and then. He&rsquo;s young. His technique is flawed to some degree, and that&rsquo;s daily -- work at it. He&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>He played a little more last week.</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We were a little more in base defense, and that helps. Dovetailing off what you said [Ed: Who, me!?], you don&rsquo;t want to overload guys. If we started teaching him all the sub package stuff, the dime, the nickel, whatever you want to call it, it would probably set him back a little bit. Again, I don&rsquo;t like to set guys back. I want to see them keep moving forward.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Any guys stand out from Illinois&rsquo;s defense?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well [Michael] Buchanan. He&rsquo;s a good football player. He&rsquo;s a guy who&rsquo;s active. Brown, the linebacker, is active. I think their whole front is pretty good. They lost a couple guys from a year ago -- one for sure -- but I think they&rsquo;re an atheltic front and they can be physical. You can see what they&rsquo;re doing in third down situations in changing up coverages. It&rsquo;s a little new defensively because it&rsquo;s a new coordinator, new deal. They&rsquo;re working through it, but you know, from an athletic standpoint, they&rsquo;re athletic.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Kovacs looked nicked up a week ago. How&rsquo;s he looking these days?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Good. Good. Jordan, you know, he&rsquo;s a pretty tough guy.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Taylor said Monday that he&rsquo;s ignoring what people are saying about the offensive line. Were you getting the sense that the line was feeding into the negative talk? Secondly, Borges mentioned that the offensive line practiced much better last week. Did you see that?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah, and that&rsquo;s where it&rsquo;s got to come from. I think from both sides of the ball, your fronts -- game day or practice -- they&rsquo;ve got to set the tone in leadership and everything you do. I&rsquo;m a big believer in that. Buying into the negativity? I mean, if they do that, then they&rsquo;re not going to be any good. What do other people know? They&rsquo;re the only ones who know. And us.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Did you see them slipping into that early on?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t. I didn&rsquo;t see that.&rdquo;</p>
http://mgoblog.com/content/wednesday-presser-transcript-10-10-12-brady-hoke#comments2012 illinoisbrady hokebrandon moorechuckstrongcraig rohdevin gardnerjordan kovacsnathan scheelhaaseondre pipkinspress conference recapsstephen hopkinsactual reportingWed, 10 Oct 2012 19:27:01 +0000Heiko72653 at http://mgoblog.comWednesday Presser Transcript 9-19-12: Brady Hokehttp://mgoblog.com/content/wednesday-presser-transcript-9-19-12-brady-hoke
<p><strong>News bullets and other important items:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
Desmond Morgan will play on Saturday and will start.</li>
<li>
Richard Ash and Stephen Hopkins are likely to play.</li>
<li>
Brandon Moore and Brennen Beyer are out.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<h1>
Brady Hoke</h1>
<p><img alt="" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7798697740_fef772702d_o.jpg" style="width: 560px; height: 373px; " /></p>
<p class="rtecenter" style=""><em>file</em></p>
<p>&ldquo;You ready?&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Yessir.</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Thank you for showing up. I think we had a very good practice yesterday. The tempo was good. The learning was good. I think we played fast and we competed well against each other, so that&rsquo;s a good sign. I think we&rsquo;re excited, obviously, to play in a great venue and play great rivalry game. It started in 1887 and [we&rsquo;ll] continue it and go from there.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Does the intensity ebb and flow with the varying strength of opponents over the past few weeks or is it consistent?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;d like to have it consistent. I can&rsquo;t say it&rsquo;s always been consistent, but you&rsquo;d like the consistency be there every week so you can improve.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Has it been consistent?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been decent. I think it was very -- a little more intense, but we&rsquo;ve been talking about that a lot. The intensity and your focus and your concentration is at a higher level. Your speed of playing the game&rsquo;s at a higher level. So I think that part of it has been good.&rdquo;</p>
<a name="more"></a><!--break--><!--break--><p><strong>You talked early on in camp about being impressed with the physical play. Has that translated to the games?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think in some -- game time I&rsquo;d like to see it more. I think we all would. I think playing faster, especially on the defensive side of the ball and some of that is youth related why we don&rsquo;t. I think there&rsquo;s still some paralysis by analysis going on. I think the tempo that we want to go about our business practice-wise is starting to relate a little more game-wise.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>As far as the injured players &hellip;</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Hop ran around yesterday, did some things. Beyer doesn&rsquo;t look like he&rsquo;s going to be ready. We&rsquo;ll still hold out some hope, but it doesn&rsquo;t look like it. Moore will be out. Morgan&rsquo;s in.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Ash?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Uh, you know what? He&rsquo;s probably in.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>When you watch Denard dropping back in the pocket, at what point are you okay with him tucking the ball and taking off?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty much okay 99 percent of the time, tucking it and taking it. He&rsquo;s got such a gift, you know, that most of the time when he plants his foot and decides to go north and south, it&rsquo;s going to be pretty productive with you, so I&rsquo;m very comfortable with that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Would you like to see him do it more?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it goes from game to game, play to play. Sometimes you do, sometimes you say, &lsquo;Oh, now you&rsquo;re moving up in the pocket and seeing things and getting rid of the ball.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Before you got to Michigan, did you follow Michigan and did you hear about Denard&rsquo;s 2010 game against Notre Dame?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Were there things that stood out to you last year when you were prepping for the Notre Dame game and watching the 2010 film?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No because I&rsquo;ve been around him enough. It&rsquo;s not shocking or surprising.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Scheme-wise, when a team tries to stop a quarterback like Denard who can run, what do they do differently than they might do to try and stop a conventional running game?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It really dpeends on what they believe in. It depends on wh otheir personnel is. You wouldn&rsquo;t want to take a guy who&rsquo;s a 308 lb nose tackle and play him on the read part of it. It varies from team to team how much man coverage they want to play, how much they can play a six-man box, if you don&rsquo;t have the ability to hurt them with the conventional run with the running back. I think it dictates a lot of what their personnel is and their respect for what you have.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What did they do last year?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;They boxed him in a couple different ways with backers and a safety. If I get into it too much it&rsquo;d be way over your head.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>It would.</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to do that, but they did a nice job with it, but at the same time Al had some answers in the second half. We started running the ball pretty decent.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How much of what they did last year contributed to the lack of success the non-Denard running game had?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it was probably a little both. Remember, Fitz didn&rsquo;t play in this game. Schmitty took about every snap I think. I don&rsquo;t think Rawls played in the game. I don&rsquo;t know if you guys remember or not. &rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Hopkins ran a little bit.</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Hop did. I forgot your question &hellip;&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How much of what they did last year contributed to the lack of success the non-Denard running game had?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Um, I think us blocking attributed a little bit. I think just the lack of any continuity offensively. There was no rhythm. I remember that at halftime, just thinking we have no rhythm to it, and then we gave up some big plays. Two runs, three runs defensively that were like plus-25 on third downs that kept the chains going and they did a nice job offensively checking to different plays -- so the rhythm of the game wasn&rsquo;t there anywhere. There wasn&rsquo;t any momentum anywhere. I think part of that was them, obviously, and give them a lot of respect, and part of it was we didn&rsquo;t handle the line of scrimmage.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Does Denard do anything anymore that surprises you?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know I&rsquo;m sure there&rsquo;s going to be something that happens during a practice or a game that you say, &lsquo;Man, I didn&rsquo;t know you could throw it across your body that far,&rsquo; or &lsquo;He stopped on a dime here and accelerated so fast.&rsquo; Those kinds of things I&rsquo;m sure are out there.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Did that 90 degree cut last week surprise you?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No. Not really. No. Because we chased him around, you know, the first spring. We were chasing him all over and when I knew we were coming around a little bit defensively, he said, &lsquo;You know, a year ago I could run wherever I wanted against our defense. Now I can&rsquo;t.&rsquo; So I mean, that was a year ago. That&rsquo;s kind of as good as an endorsement as anything that our guys are understanding getting to the football.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is the chemistry on the offensive line coming together?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah I think there is. I think them playing together now through three, obviously communication part of it, obviously there&rsquo;s things they expect from one another that they just have a feel for, so I think there&rsquo;s a little more of that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>When you watch the ND-MSU film, what jumped out about Notre Dame most?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think they did a really nice job managing the game. From an offensive standpoint of clock management, taking time off the clock in the third quarter. From a personnel standpoint, Everett Golson gets your attention because he made some plays, just manufactured plays with his feet and his arm. The playmakers they had, the amount of playmakers offensively, and then I would say their front seven on defense. You knew they were good, but they were really good.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you think that Notre Dame playing Michigan State and now you in back to back weeks is an advantage for you?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I don&rsquo;t know. You know, they&rsquo;re going to play at home and the first night game at their stadium ever -- I don&rsquo;t know ever -- but in this rivalry. This is pretty intense.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Between Desmond Morgan, who you&rsquo;re getting back from injury, and James Ross, who is going to start?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Probably Desmond.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You had some struggles against strong front sevens. How will guys like the Devins alleviate some of that pressure?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well it depends how much respect they give those two guys and how they feel about their own personnel. You&rsquo;re going to play a lot of man coverage. You feel they have the right matchups. It&rsquo;s more of a concern -- not a concern, but more where they have to visualize where their matchups are.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What impresses you the most about Everett Golson?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s part of it, I think it&rsquo;s poise, I think how he handled the offense, how he threw the football. I hadn&rsquo;t really seen him much to be honest with you before. I think he&rsquo;s got a good arm, I think he mechanically is pretty good, and he&rsquo;s got the ability to be elusive and run the ball.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Bolden and Demens -- has one climbed ahead of the other on the depth chart?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re both playing. They&rsquo;re both going to play. They&rsquo;re two good players.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is Kenny still starting?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How&rsquo;s Kenny handling that being a senior?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, entitlement issues, he knows you have to perform and you have to produce every day. So there is no entitlement.&rdquo;</p>
http://mgoblog.com/content/wednesday-presser-transcript-9-19-12-brady-hoke#comments2012 notre damebrady hokebrandon moorebrennen beyerdenard robinson makes rainbowsdesmond morganeverett golsonkenny demenspress conference recapsrichard ashstephen hopkinsactual reportingWed, 19 Sep 2012 18:10:38 +0000Heiko72105 at http://mgoblog.comMonday Presser Transcript 9-17-12: Brady Hokehttp://mgoblog.com/content/monday-presser-transcript-9-17-12-brady-hoke
<h1>
Brady Hoke</h1>
<p><strong>News bullets and other important things:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
Desmond Morgan and Richard Ash should return this week. Stephen Hopkins seems probable, Brennen Beyer is questionable, and Brandon Moore will be out.</li>
</ul>
<h1>
<strong>Televised presser</strong></h1>
<p><img alt="" rel="lightbox" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7247/7874753260_0c90da5a15_o.jpg" style="height: 373px; width: 560px;" /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><em>This filter is called &quot;file.&quot;</em></p>
<p><strong>Opening remarks:</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Thanks for coming. It was good to win on Saturday, obviously. We have a lot that we need to keep doing better. I think we did some things better than we did a week before, but we&rsquo;re still growing as a team in a lot of ways. We have to improve every week if we want to be the team that we want to be. So we just have to keep making progress from fundamentals, from techniques, everywhere across the board, do a better job up front on both sides of the ball. You&rsquo;ve heard that many many times before, and you&rsquo;ll probably continue to hear it. That&rsquo;s where the game is played, and that&rsquo;s where it starts, and for us going on the road playing a Notre Dame that&rsquo;s 3-0 and has played very well -- they&rsquo;ve been in tight games. They played in East Lansing well, they had a tight game with Purdue, won the football game at the end, so you look at them as a team and their front seven on defense is playing real well together. Disruptive. And offensively I think Everett Golson has done a nice job running the offense, managing it, a lot of tight ends involved, and they&rsquo;re a good football team. We&rsquo;re going to have our hands full, and we need to get a lot better as a football team.&rdquo;</p>
<a name="more"></a><!--break--><!--break--><p><strong>Can you talk about the test the offensive line will have against Notre Dame&rsquo;s front seven?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think it&rsquo;s going to be -- seeing how far we&rsquo;ve come from game 1 to game 4 is exciting. There&rsquo;s no question that&rsquo;s going to be a test. They&rsquo;ve been very productive as a football team, as a defensive team. We&rsquo;re going to have to block the line of scrimmage. We need to do a great job with protection.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Where would you assess where you&rsquo;re at with the wide receiver position right now?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, the one thing last week is I think that&rsquo;s probably one of the better positions on our team from a depth standpoint. Last week, watching them block on the perimeter, I thought that was exciting. Most people don&rsquo;t get excited about blocking, but I do, and I thought they did a nice job on the perimeter. I think Devin and his progress is coming along. I think Gallon is a tough guy and Dileo, not the biggest guys in the world, but they&rsquo;ll go out and block anybody. That part of it was good, and the depth at that position is probably better.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Your top two tacklers are your two safeties. Is that by design or do you need to get more from your linebackers?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think I&rsquo;ll always tell you we need to get more from our linebackers, but when you play Air Force, your safeties have got to be guys who make a lot of tackles. I think the last week, Thomas was a little more involved, and it was good to see him because I think he can be a real playmaker for us. Has that ability. But I think some of it&rsquo;s by design depending on what coverages you&rsquo;re playing, and some of it, obviously, we&rsquo;d like to see the second level guys and the guys up front get off some blocks and make some plays.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Denard spread the ball around to lots of receivers. Does that speak to his improved ability to make the right reads?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think you know, number one, I thought he really threw the ball well. He had really two bad throws. The one he kind of, you know, darted out there to Devin on the one play instead of just throwing it. He kind of aimed it. The interception he was a little bit behind the receiver, but I thought he threw the ball well. I thought his decision making was really good, and probably when you look at it, it was good to see him put that and running the ball together.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Denard&rsquo;s not running the scout team, but will it help the defense that they&rsquo;ve faced Denard when they&rsquo;re defending against Everett Golson?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah I was thinking about that while I was watching the tape. We see a guy like that every day. We do enough live stuff one-on-one against each other that hopefully will be some similarities there that our guys are a little bit used to the speed, but you never know until you get in that environment.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Are you expecting Moore, Morgan, Beyer, and Ash back this week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Um, Beyer, I&rsquo;m not sure. Morgan should be. Ash should be.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Brandon Moore?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Probably not.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>On the offensive line, how do you balance continuity with making changes?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;What we have determined to be our best five are playing. If someone else was better, believe me they would have stepped up, and that&rsquo;s one of the things you want to see is that competition level keep going on so that there is a great competition at all those positions, but our best five are on the field.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Can you talk about how much of a surprise Gardner and Funchess have been?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah. You know, I don&rsquo;t know -- Devin didn&rsquo;t really surprise me from an athletic standpoint or surprise us. We wouldn&rsquo;t have moved him if we didn&rsquo;t think he had the ability. I think the progression has been good. When you look at him block, he&rsquo;s a quarterback, he never had to block. And now the toughness that he&rsquo;s showing there. The other thing -- Funchess. He&rsquo;s an athlete and can make some catches that maybe some other guys couldn&rsquo;t make and also he&rsquo;s a little bit of a mismatch.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You&rsquo;re finally playing a team that you saw last year in Notre Dame. How much do you rely on your experience with them from last year vs. looking at them on film this year?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, you always personally, I think you always look at what they&rsquo;ve done lately. It&rsquo;s like anything else. They&rsquo;re a different football team than they were last year, just like we are. There&rsquo;s some similarities in some guys they&rsquo;re playing, but at the same time from an offensive standpoint with Everett in there, could be a little bit different from when Tommy was in there. So that part of it, the first two games, they didn&rsquo;t have Cierre Wood. He&rsquo;s a definite playmaker. They had him last week. You&rsquo;ve got to take what you see right now.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Was last year&rsquo;s game a difficult barometer because of all the turnovers and stuff?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well that&rsquo;s the thing that they&rsquo;ve done a nice job of. I think they&rsquo;re plus four. Last year, the game before us, they were minus five. It&rsquo;s one of those things where they&rsquo;re doing a good job with the football, we&rsquo;re not getting the football much right now, and that&rsquo;s got to improve.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How do you counter the fact that Notre Dame&rsquo;s game plan will be to slow down Denard? Do you add new wrinkles to the offense?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, you know, they obviously have some answers. They had some answers the first three quarters of last year, because we didn&rsquo;t do anything if you will remember offensively and didn&rsquo;t play really great defense. Al always does different things week to week that he puts in the game plan.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How do you see Norfleet&rsquo;s development in the backfield?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know &hellip; we&rsquo;ll see, to be honest with you. He ran a couple jets in there. He&rsquo;s a good athlete. We&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You&rsquo;ve been pretty critical about run blocking. How would you assess pass protection?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah we&rsquo;ve got a couple issues, you know, a little bit more vs. Air Force probably. Maybe a little against Alabama, but for the most part, they&rsquo;ve done a pretty good job.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What&rsquo;s your most vivid memory of playing in South Bend?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Being up I think 14-3 at halftime and getting beat 28-24. Pretty vivid.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is there one thing you can point to on the defense that you can do to increase turnovers?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think there&rsquo;s three things. We&rsquo;re practicing the same way -- you do turnover drills and all that stuff, but we have to play tighter coverage, whether it be man coverage or zone coverage. You have to get pressure on the quarterback, and you have to get 11 bodies to the football. Those three things.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What does this Notre Dame game mean to you personally, and how special is it to play in that stadium?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;This is a great national rivalry. We&rsquo;re fortunate at Michigan because we have three great rivalry games. The storied history of both programs, on and off how this series has gone, I think it&rsquo;s special. I think it&rsquo;s one reason why you come to Michigan. To play in that rivalry.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How frustrating is it to see UMass fumble the ball and not be able to recover it?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think there&rsquo;s always pursuit and effort things that you look at and you evaluate. On that particular one, it kind of came right back to the guy, but at the same time, you&rsquo;re always trained to evaluate that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you think of the venue of playing at Notre Dame? How intimidating is it or is it more about the players on it?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always about the players, I mean no matter what. Now you can always play on the road and being Michigan, you&rsquo;re always going to get everybody&rsquo;s best, and I think for us, it&rsquo;s a night game, a home game for Notre Dame. There&rsquo;ll be some things that will be loud, and we have to do a great job managing our communication and what we want to do.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="rtecenter">-------------</p>
<h1>
<strong>Roundtable</strong></h1>
<p><img alt="" rel="lightbox" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8439/7874754620_e47a1a3d52_o.jpg" /></p>
<p><strong>Why was Brandon Moore chosen to wear Ron Kramer&rsquo;s number?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well because of his leadership. Brandon has done a tremendous job when you look at recognizing somebody like Kramer. There&rsquo;s a lot of him being a great athlete here and obviously going on. I was a Packer fan, and I can remember watching him play, but for Brandon, he was a guy who we all thought as a staff really is a kind of guy that, you know, exuded kind of that leadership and character that you want.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What is Stephen Hopkins&rsquo;s status?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Uh, he may be ready. &rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>The new NCAA rule allows you to have four grad assistants instead of two. How does that affect your program?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You have two more coaches on the field.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Are you using them any differently?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No. We have two more coaches on the field.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>In favor of the rule?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes. I think it helps develop young coaches, too.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Amara Darboh played some special teams. Is he working his way into the offense?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, he&rsquo;s done a nice job -- he had two tackles on the kickoff team the other day. He&rsquo;s played some at wide receiver. He had a great block. I think he improves every week.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What&rsquo;s the biggest memory for you from last year&rsquo;s Notre Dame game?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I would say just how our team on the sideline was great throughout the game, communicating, believing in each other, all those things.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What have you seen out of the tight end group to use them so much, and is this what you&rsquo;d like to do with them in the future?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think with the development of the two young guys and Mike Kwiatkowski doing a good job, and I give Brandon Moore a lot of credit, because he&rsquo;s been a real teacher to them, he&rsquo;s done a good job with the young guys.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What have you seen from A.J. Williams?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;A.J.&rsquo;s a guy who&rsquo;s mainly on the line of scrimmage. He&rsquo;s learning how to play college football. Learning how to block and fundamentally and technique, and that&rsquo;s a big part of it. He&rsquo;s got great hands and he can run.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How do you go about getting more sacks and QB pressures?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Right now, and you gotta look at the Air Force game and you gotta take that one out of the mix, to be honest with you. I thought we had very good pressure against Alabama at times, with a four man rush. Obviously we want to be better with pressure. We&rsquo;d love to have more sacks. We&rsquo;d like to have more negative plays, tackles for a loss and those kind of things. I think it&rsquo;s just like anything else we&rsquo;re doing right now, it&rsquo;s a little bit of a work in progress.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How important is Frank Clark to your pass rush?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think him, I think Mario Ojemudia, he probably played as well as anybody up front last week. But him and Jake, when we put him down in our sub packages &hellip; Craig Roh adds a dimension in there, and Jibreel Black -- we have to count on all those guys.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You went with Jibreel Black and Craig Roh on the interior a lot. How come?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve done since day one. Craig would play a little more outside because you had Mike [Martin] inside a year ago and Ryan [Van Bergen]. But Craig&rsquo;s more of an inside guy because you&rsquo;ve got Ojemudia, because you&rsquo;ve got Frank Clark, Jake Ryan, and Cam Gordon.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you think of Craig Roh&rsquo;s play so far?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s doing fine. I think we have to do a better job getting off blocks and holding the point better, but I think he&rsquo;s doing good.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Transition for Courtney Avery from nickel to corner, how is he doing?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s a smart football player. That&rsquo;s one of the best things Courtney has is football intelligence. I think we still use him some in the nickel situation as an inside guy, but competition on the outside with him and Ray will continue.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Can you talk about Raymon Taylor&rsquo;s progress?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Ray is making progress, let&rsquo;s put it that way. His technique&rsquo;s a little better, his fundamentals are a little better, his eyes are little better, which are a big part. You play defensive back with your feet and your eyes, and I think he&rsquo;s learning that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>MGoQuestion: Will Hagerup has been booming punts these days and it often seems like nobody on the cover team is near the return man, which opens them up for big returns. Is improving punt coverage something you&rsquo;re working on?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah. And I think the one that really last week was the first one when we pooched it. Matt pooched it down there and both of our gunners -- and they doubled both gunners -- which means someone else should have been clean. We&rsquo;ve got to do a much better job covering. And the other one he drove, you&rsquo;re not going to have great coverage if you drive a punt 60 yards.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>MGoFollowup: What can you do to improve it?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think you want to look at net punt, and number one is you get the ball up high enough, it allows some guys to get down the field, and it&rsquo;s just getting off blocks.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is that an underrated part of losing Blake Countess?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Blake is one of those guys that&rsquo;s a starter for us. I hope we have a guy step up and Delonte does a pretty good job. He did a good job last year for us. Joe Reynolds is doing some of that for us. Furman. That&rsquo;s a real pride thing. And it depends what kind of return you&rsquo;re facing also. They were being double-teamed. They doubled both the gunners, that means it&rsquo;s a six-man box, and you have to have someone in better position.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>UMass head coach Charlie Molnar developed his offense at Notre Dame. Does it help playing UMass before Notre Dame?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think they&rsquo;re both different. There&rsquo;s similarities in some plays, but personnel groups are totally different.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How much of a challenge has it been to face so many different styles of offense this early in the season?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah. You know I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s a challenge. The Air Force one was the biggest one that challenges you, but you&rsquo;re still playing blocks, you&rsquo;re still, I think, setting fronts, and I&rsquo;m just thinking out loud about rules and how you do things. It&rsquo;s not that big a deal.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You have countdown clocks for Ohio State and Michigan State. Do you do anything for Notre Dame?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We talk about the series. We talk about the legacies of it. But there&rsquo;s no clock.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Would you like to see this series continue now that Notre Dame has joined the ACC?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, I don&rsquo;t know. They&rsquo;re going to the ACC. They&rsquo;ve got to do what they need to do for them. If it continues that&rsquo;s great. If it doesn&rsquo;t, then we&rsquo;ll move forward.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do James Ross and Joe Bolden bring to the linebacking unit?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;A lot of inexperience and youth, but also two guys who have pretty good instincts.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Where do you see that inexperience and youth the most?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It varies from play to play to play-action pass.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How important is the defensive line to allowing the linebackers to make plays?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s really important. How you play blocks and how you demand blocks.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You&rsquo;ve mentioned work in progress week after week. At what point do you hope that you have to stop saying that? With all the young players, do you like that you&rsquo;re shaping something for the future?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I don&rsquo;t know. I don&rsquo;t know how much I look at it that way. We just have to get -- we have high expectations, and we have to get better a little quicker maybe.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is the middle linebacker spot more of a timeshare now between Kenny Demens and Joe Bolden?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that. They&rsquo;re both going to play.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is that package-based?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Performance-based.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What are your thoughts on the linebackers&rsquo; hair?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I have more important things than hair to worry about.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Are you getting a sense that your players are getting to where you want them to be?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ll know more about us as a football team in the next two weeks.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Are they responding to you saying that they&rsquo;re not good enough?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think they are. I think when we meet with the seniors on Sunday and Thursday, I think they talk about some things that are encouraging.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Knowing that you have next week off, are you going to be more physical this week during practice?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to be kind of like we have been. We were physical last week, and we&rsquo;re going to be physical this week practice-wise.&rdquo;</p>
http://mgoblog.com/content/monday-presser-transcript-9-17-12-brady-hoke#commentsbrady hokebrandon moorebrennen beyerdennis norfleetdesmond morgandevin funchessdevin gardnerpress conference recapsrichard ashstephen hopkinsactual reportingMon, 17 Sep 2012 18:39:56 +0000Heiko72038 at http://mgoblog.comMonday Presser Transcript 9-3-12: Brady Hokehttp://mgoblog.com/content/monday-presser-transcript-9-3-12-brady-hoke
<h1>
Brady Hoke</h1>
<p><strong>News bullets and other important items:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
Blake Countess is out with an ACL tear. You are totally surprised.</li>
<li>
Brandon Moore is out this week with an MCL strain. Taylor Lewan is &quot;fine&quot; and good to go for Air Force.&nbsp;</li>
<li>
Both Fitz Toussaint and Frank Clark will play this week.</li>
<li>
Bennie Oosterbaan&#39;s number will be unretired this week during the game vs. Air Force.</li>
<li>
Courtney Avery is starting at field corner.</li>
<li>
Alabama did stuff with their safeties and linebackers to keep Denard from running, for what it&#39;s worth.</li>
<li>
Gardner wants to compete for starting QB job next season (not transcribed).</li>
</ul>
<p class="rtecenter" style="">----------------------------</p>
<p><strong>Televised Presser</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7247/7874753260_0c90da5a15_o.jpg" style="width: 560px; height: 373px; " /></p>
<p class="rtecenter" style=""><em>file</em></p>
<p><strong>Opening remarks:</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Good afternoon. You know, we looked at the film and the good news is we have 11 more opportunities to play Michigan football. We didn&rsquo;t play the way we needed to play to win the football game in a lot of different areas, from a tackling standpoint to blocking at the line of scrimmage. Those are two of the biggest factors. Didn&rsquo;t run the ball as we liked to and didn&rsquo;t stop the run, and that is two things that as a defense and offensive unit you have to do. We&rsquo;ll learn from the mistakes. We&rsquo;re going to practice today. We gave the guys off yesterday because of getting in at 5 a.m. Sunday morning, so we&rsquo;ll start fixing the mistkaes, talking about the mistakes, coaching them better. That&rsquo;s probably the number one issue. We have to do a better job as coaches. The other part of it is making sure that the execution is the way we would like it to be to play Michigan football.&rdquo;</p>
<a name="more"></a><!--break--><!--break--><p><strong>Blake Countess?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Blake, that&rsquo;s obviously something that you hate to see anybody get hurt. He&rsquo;s a valuable team member. They have the surgery sometime, I imagine, the next two weeks. I don&rsquo;t know the schedule for that. Brandon Moore will probably be out this week. It&rsquo;s an MCL issue -- not torn or anything, but I think it&rsquo;s stretched. We&rsquo;ll see how his goes. Lewan is fine. I think it was more of a bruise, but everybody else should be okay.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Josh Furman wasn&rsquo;t at the game. Is he normally a gunner on special teams?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No. Blake has always been our first gunner.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What is the rationale for putting starters on special teams?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well we try and only put guys who are only going to play significant time on two teams. And the rationale is it&rsquo;s one third of the football game, and you better have guys who are capable and guys you think are your best players. So the rationale is you&rsquo;re going to win the kicking game also.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How is Denard health-wise? Looked like he took some shots to his shoulder.</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think his shoulder is fine. I think he got more hit in the back the one time. He&rsquo;s sore like most guys are if you play, but he was good yesterday. He was in.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you worry about the fact that he seems to lose a gear as the season goes on due to getting banged up?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think he did last year at all. Last year you look at Nebraska and Ohio, and he was pretty healthy. In fact he told me that was the healthiest he&rsquo;d been at this time of year. We didn&rsquo;t run him a lot. They didn&rsquo;t allow us to run him a lot, how they defended him. I think that&rsquo;s all part of it. He&rsquo;s going to stick his foot in the ground every once in a while in those passing situations and go get yards for the team.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you look for in your team and your leaders after a loss like this?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, you can&rsquo;t let one team beat you twice. You can&rsquo;t do that. I think what you look for is number one, on the sideline during the football game, our guys were into the game. Never one time did I see the guys who were out there not being into the game, which is a good sign, because believe me I&rsquo;ve been on other teams where you look and they&rsquo;re not really excited about being there. These guys were excited throughout the four quarters of the football game. I think this week, we&rsquo;ll learn a little bit more about our leadership. I&rsquo;ve liked it to this point. This week we&rsquo;ll learn a little bit more on how motivated they are. I think when you only have 11 guaranteed opportunities left, and you&rsquo;re Michigan, I think you&rsquo;ll be very motivated.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Update on Fitz and Clark?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re both going to play this week.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Lots of freshmen played. James Ross was your weakside linebacker. Was that because you liked what you saw from him during fall camp or was it more because the other guys ahead of him weren&rsquo;t progressing as much as you liked?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It was more probably in how much we liked James&rsquo;s progress throughout fall camp. He&rsquo;s a pretty instinctive guy. Picked up everything very well for a young guy. Physical. Has a knack for getting off blocks and accelerating the hits. Things that you like to see a linebacker do. Good vision.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Bennie Oosterbaan is being honored this week by the team. Are you going to make the choice for who wears his unretired uniform?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Did you have the chance to meet Oosterbaan before he passed away? I know it was a little before your time here &hellip;</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, I don&rsquo;t believe so.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Are you going to take any time to have anyone talk to the team about Oosterbaan?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes, we will.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Kovacs talked about the number of missed tackles. How do you remedy that in a week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well some of it is obviously the run fits within the defense. Who&rsquo;s supposed to where and you have count on that guy. For us a year ago, we were a pretty good tackling team. We&rsquo;re going to tackle more in practice. We tackled a decent amount. The NCAA limits you a little more now, especially during fall camp, but we&rsquo;ll tackle a decent amount this week. The only way I know how to get better at anything is to do it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Courtney Avery is starting opposite JT Floyd now. What did you see from him after Blake went down?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, Courtney&rsquo;s a seasoned veteran. I think with him and Raymon and Terry Richardson, the young freshman, all three of those guys are guys that we&rsquo;ve counted on to be able to step up and play. Courtney has a lot of experience, you know. He&rsquo;s played a lot of football here. He was bailin&rsquo; on the one and the double move kind of guy &hellip; we trust Courtney. I think that&rsquo;s the biggest issue.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is Courtney the definitive starter or could Raymon Taylor pass him this week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think Courtney right now, yeah, he&rsquo;ll be the starter.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Frank Clark&rsquo;s offense was legally more serious than Toussaint&rsquo;s. What went into the decision to allow him to play this week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve taken a lot of -- he&rsquo;s paid a lot of consequences internally.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What are some of the positives from this game?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, I think the positives are the good plays that are on there. I mean, Denard&rsquo;s throw to Gallon was a big time throw. I&rsquo;m highlighting that play, but there were some good plays made by guys on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The thing we struggled with is stacking those together consistently, and that&rsquo;s one thing that as you watched the film, you talk about the good, but you talk about the bad -- well you can do it well, let&rsquo;s do it well. You&rsquo;re playing a team that traditionally is a good football team. You find out where you&rsquo;re at and where you&rsquo;ve got to improve.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Why was Denard having such a hard time getting into rhythm in the passing game?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, number one I don&rsquo;t think -- it&rsquo;s just people want to gang up on Denard. They&rsquo;re making a mistake. The routes being run right, and we had some drops that we can&rsquo;t have when you look at the flow of your offense and where you&rsquo;re at. Protection-wise, at times was pretty solid but then we got beat a couple times, either hurried to throw or had to move out of the pocket and his feet weren&rsquo;t [set] and his hips and all those.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is it fair to say that Devin Gardner is a receiver first and a QB second or third at this point?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I would say that he&rsquo;s a wide receiver first and a quarterback depending on where you&rsquo;re at in the game or the week.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Devin almost had two really good catches but they were incompletions due to his route running or hands. Will he improve in those aspects or the next few weeks?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I think you&rsquo;re right, I think a couple things: We&rsquo;re very comfortable and very confident in Devin at wide receiver. I know Denard is. As he continues to play more, continues especially at a game level and game speed -- you try and do that every day at practice -- I think he learned a little more about playing wide receiver.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is your mindset more along the lines of &ldquo;we have to get better&rdquo; or is it more &ldquo;we&rsquo;re not going to face that kind of talent again all year&rdquo;?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No, it&rsquo;s not the latter. I mean, we have to get better if we want to win the Big Ten championship and play Michigan football.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Roundtree, Gardner, and Gallon all got a lot of targets. Is there a number one receiver right now?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No, it&rsquo;s still you have to go through a progression. Obviously there&rsquo;s some calls that are a little more specific, but I think all those guys are guys who make plays, so as Denard goes through a read or if it&rsquo;s somewhere that we&rsquo;ve [decided] this is what we want to do in attack if we get this look -- it could be either one of them.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="rtecenter" style="">----------------------------------</p>
<p><strong>Roundtable</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8439/7874754620_e47a1a3d52_o.jpg" style="width: 560px; height: 373px; " /></p>
<p class="rtecenter" style=""><em>file</em></p>
<p><strong>Demetrius Milliner had a bunch of PBU&rsquo;s and an INT in the first quarter. Was it ever a thought to avoid throwing to him?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No, not really. You start doing that, you respect his abilities and his athleticism, but we&rsquo;ve got pretty good athletes. We have guys who can do some things pretty well, so no.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Second level blockers were getting through pretty easily to your linebackers. How do you combat that?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah, some of that&rsquo;s the linebackers&rsquo; fault, and some of that&rsquo;s the defensive linemen&rsquo;s fault. Some of it, you have to have more friction on the offensive linemen. Sometimes linebackers maybe hesitate or their footwork&rsquo;s bad and they&rsquo;re a little slow getting to where they want to get to, so it&rsquo;s a little combination of both.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What were your overall impression of your defensive line?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t get off blocks. I didn&rsquo;t think we handled the point of the attack as well as we can. I think there was inconsistency with it because as you watch the tape there&rsquo;s some really good plays and guys knocking guys back, and then there were some other plays where it&rsquo;s not near where it needs to be.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Re: Fitz and Frank. How do you resolve the legal discrepancy between the two cases? Can you take me through that process&hellip;</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need to take you through a process. I just resolved it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What has Bellomy done to take over as the backup quarterback, and when did you decide that Devin was pretty exclusively a receiver?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, you&rsquo;re in the middle of the game and a guy&rsquo;s prepared at both positions. I think that&rsquo;s a tough transition. Devin is still playing quarterback some in practice, but in the heat of the battle game-wise, and then Russell has really had a great fall camp. I&rsquo;m very proud of how he&rsquo;s progressed.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What was Alabama doing to prevent Denard from running?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Their nickel or their safeties, you could action the other way, they weren&rsquo;t moving. They were waiting. It could have been the backer, depends if they dropped the safety down or the backer out, drop the safety inside -- they weren&rsquo;t moving. That&rsquo;s where we have to hit a couple of those throws when we do throw the ball, when we take that out of them.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How did Elliott do in his first start at center?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know, he did a pretty good job. He hung in there. He was pretty physical at the line of scrimmage. I think all his gun snaps were good, and he did a nice job.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Will you keep him there for next week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah. Yes.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Does the defensive scheme change much now that Countess is out?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No. No. No. I mean, not one guy we have out there is going to change the defense in schematics that you do with it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What about the nickel package?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well it could be Thomas, it could be Courtney and bringing another corner in. We practice with Courtney a lot. Practiced with Thomas there a lot.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Roundtree wasn&rsquo;t involved in a lot of the passing game. Is there anything wrong with him physically?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it was anything to do with him. He&rsquo;s fine. He really is in good shape.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>12 freshmen played. What are your thoughts about that?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We traveled 17 of them. That was &hellip; interesting.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is that concerning?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It is, but what are you going to do? The best player&rsquo;s got to play, so you&rsquo;ve got to play the best guys.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What&rsquo;s it like bringing 17 freshmen on a trip?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well, it&rsquo;s like babysitting sometimes a little bit.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How so?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well they&rsquo;re just young. They got on a big boy jet and they fly down and played in a big boy stadium with a big boy team. I mean --&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>A big boy hotel?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;A big boy hotel. I mean, no, there&rsquo;s a lot that&rsquo;s different. They did a nice job with it, but I mean there&rsquo;s always &hellip; travel is something that as a coach is always a headache to some degree. You worry about how guys prepare mentally.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>With a trip like that, do they grow up a little more afterwards?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You hope so. You remind them that this is not Sycamore high school anymore.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Should Denard have run the ball more?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think there were a couple reads where maybe he should have. This kid&rsquo;s a great quarterback and he&rsquo;s a great athlete. He&rsquo;s probably going to run at some time when he shouldn&rsquo;t, and something&rsquo;s going to happen. He&rsquo;s a competitor.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Will Furman be available this week?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you feel like the team is a little more physically beaten up after playing Alabama than after a typical game?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No. No. I mean, we&rsquo;ve got physical teams in our league. This team this week coming in here is a physical football team. That&rsquo;s how they play.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How do you go from playing Alabama to playing Air Force? Did you look at Air Force at all during fall camp?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well it&rsquo;s always a challenge. Anytime you get into a midline series, you know, offense. It&rsquo;s a fun challenge because it really speaks of playing assignment football so we have game planned them way back, did very little this fall camp, but we&rsquo;ll start tonight &hellip; They&rsquo;ve changed a little bit with -- they&rsquo;re going no huddle now. When we were in the Mountain West with them, they still huddled and they&rsquo;ve changed, run the midline and some of the pro series, that when he was with the Texans they did &hellip; so pretty unique.</p>
<p><strong>Are you worried about defensive discipline against such an offense?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah I think that&rsquo;s part of it. The biggest thing is you have to really have to do a great job at the line of scrimmage. The friction in the blocks, keeping your linebackers more clean, and then your rotation of quarterback, fullback, pitch, just over and over. They&rsquo;ll have ways when you line up one way, they have ways to attack you. It&rsquo;ll take us a little bit of time to get used to the speed because we don&rsquo;t have a quarterback that can run like theirs, besides our quarterback, but he&rsquo;s not going to run the scout team this week.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Could Devin run the scout team?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;No, we couldn&rsquo;t do that with him either.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How far is Michigan from being at the level of Alabama?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if &hellip; I don&rsquo;t have an answer for you. I know we&rsquo;ve got to be more consistent. We need to be more physical. We need to &hellip; I think those two things are the big things. Those two things are the big things we have to be.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>And that&rsquo;s a lot to do with recruiting. Do you look down the line and say in a couple years &hellip;</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why we can&rsquo;t be good this year.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Will Hagerup?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I thought Will and Matt both kicked well. On the kickoffs he did a tremendous job. Will punted well. I was glad to see that because once in a while Will will try to overpunt, and I thought he&rsquo;d be trying to hit the screen. I&rsquo;m glad he didn&rsquo;t try and do that. So I thought he punted well. I thought the special teams part of it, with the kickers and then with Dennis Norfleet, I thought he did a nice job in the returns.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You kicked through the endzone and got touchbacks every time. Is that the ideal strategy?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think so. You give it to them at the 25.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How much of a role can you see for Norfleet besides special teams?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know I think he&rsquo;s a pretty good guy with the ball in his hands. How you get it in his hands is really what we have to look at.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Can you envision doing more with him this year?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Possibly, yeah.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What are your thoughts on the new helmet rule?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Um, I really don&rsquo;t know if -- I know the intent. I don&rsquo;t if it&rsquo;s right, you know? They can&rsquo;t see it all. It&rsquo;s a judgment call. An opponent takes the helmet off, they don&rsquo;t call every hand to the face, so I don&rsquo;t know. I think it&rsquo;s going to be interesting to see. The intent is very good, but I don&rsquo;t know how you manage it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Taylor Lewan had a few penalties &hellip;</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think he had probably had one penalty. I thought he played well. I thought he played with a lot of heart and toughness and things you like players to play with.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How did Jake Ryan play?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Jake played well. Jake is always going to play -- he may not step exactly like you teach him all the time, but he&rsquo;s going to end up in the right place.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How hard is it for a guy like Devin to voluntarily make the switch from QB to WR?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well I imagine it was a tough decision, but I think he&rsquo;s a competitor who wants to play. I think he knew Denard was our quarterback. And I think the other part of it, he&rsquo;s helping the football team, and that&rsquo;s probably as big as anything.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>With Brandon Moore out, is Kwiatkowski going to be the guy?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Well it&rsquo;s going to be Kwiatikowski, it&rsquo;ll be AJ Williams, it will be Devin Funchess.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Probably about the same amount?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo;</p>
http://mgoblog.com/content/monday-presser-transcript-9-3-12-brady-hoke#comments2012 air force2012 alabamablake countessbrady hokebrandon moorecourtney averydennis norfleetdevin gardnerfitzgerald toussaintfrank clarkpress conference recapstaylor lewanactual reportingMon, 03 Sep 2012 18:35:52 +0000Heiko71645 at http://mgoblog.comPreview 2012: Receivers of All Varietieshttp://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2012-receivers-all-varieties
<p><strong>Previously</strong>: <a href="http://mgoblog.com/podcasts/mgopodcast-40-get-party-started">Podcast 4.0</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/story-2012-real-william-carlos-williams">the story</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2012-quarterback">quarterback</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2012-backs-all-varieties">running back</a>.</p>
<p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
<p align="center"><strong>Depth Chart</strong></p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th>
WR</th>
<th>
Yr.</th>
<th>
WR</th>
<th>
Yr.</th>
<th>
Slot</th>
<th>
Yr.</th>
<th>
TE</th>
<th>
Yr.</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>
<strong>Roy Roundtree</strong></td>
<td>
<strong>Sr.*</strong></td>
<td>
Devin Gardner</td>
<td>
So.*</td>
<td>
<strong>Jeremy Gallon</strong></td>
<td>
<strong>Jr.*</strong></td>
<td>
Brandon Moore</td>
<td>
Sr.*</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>
Jeremy Jackson</td>
<td>
Jr.</td>
<td>
Jerald Robinson</td>
<td>
So.*</td>
<td>
Drew Dileo</td>
<td>
Jr.*</td>
<td>
AJ Williams</td>
<td>
Fr.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>
Amara Darboh</td>
<td>
Fr.</td>
<td>
Ricardo Miller</td>
<td>
So.*</td>
<td>
--</td>
<td>
--</td>
<td>
Devin Funchess</td>
<td>
Fr.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>This bit could be better. Roy Roundtree suffered more than anyone in the transition from the spread &#39;n&#39; shred to the spread &#39;n&#39; pasted-on-West-Coast-stuff, plummeting from 72 catches to 19. Notre Dame and Sugar Bowl savior Junior Hemingway is off to NFL practice squads as a seventh-round pick; following him out the door are Martavious Odoms (replaceable) and Kevin Koger (uh&hellip;).</p>
<p>In their stead Michigan will field a forest of unproven guys with limited upside, freshmen, their backup quarterback, and Jerald Robinson, the one vague hope for a high quality downfield threat who is not the backup quarterback.</p>
<p align="left">It should be noted that Michigan is running the opposite of the <a href="http://smartfootball.com/gameplanning/why-every-team-should-install-its-offense-in-three-days-and-other-political-thoughts-about-successful-offense">Holgorsen style</a> &quot;you came here an X, you learned it in three days, you repeated it 60 times, you are forever an X&quot; specialization offense. Jeff Hecklinski <a href="http://detnews.com/article/20110823/SPORTS0201/108230333/1131/rss17" target="_blank">said as much last year</a>&hellip;</p>
<blockquote><p>&quot;The difference in this offense is there aren&#39;t really slot receivers as much as outside receivers &mdash; they play everywhere on the field and we move them around,&quot; Hecklinski said. &quot;The switch is big because of all the little things asked of them - they have to convert routes, pick up checks and route changes and coverages.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>&hellip;and the frequent deployment of Junior Hemingway in the slot and Jeremy Gallon outside confirmed that over the course of the year. Therefore &quot;slot&quot; is used to denote the player who is going to get all the wide receiver screens, which will never be bubble screens.</p>
<h3>
Outside Receiver</h3>
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/image.png"><img alt="image" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/image_thumb.png" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; float: right; width: 284px; height: 350px; margin: 5px 10px; " title="image" /></a><strong>Rating: 2, with upside.</strong></p>
<p align="left">Assertion: Junior Hemingway was the most valuable Michigan wide receiver since Braylon Edwards. Hemingway may not have been as good as Mario Manningham or even Adrian Arrington, but imagining last year without his ability to rise from a thicket of hands to snag &quot;no no no no no no YESSSSSSSS&quot; touchdowns is not a pleasant exercise. He is <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/six-years-crazy-detailed-michigan-receiving-stats" target="_blank">the undisputed king of yards per target</a> since 2005. He was important.</p>
<p align="left">Unfortunately, Hemingway&#39;s gone. Left behind is the mismatched collection of runty Rodriguez slot receivers, Rodriguez leapers who run like hobbled ducks, and&hellip; maybe<strong> Devin Gardner</strong>. Definitely Devin Gardner.</p>
<p align="left">Aw, hell, I should probably start off talking about Roundtree and stuff but everyone wants to know about Gardner.</p>
<p align="left">Yeah, man, he&#39;s going to play. Unless Jerald Robinson delivers on the perpetual low-level hype, no one else on the roster comes close to Gardner&#39;s combination of size, leaping ability, and speed. At the very least he&#39;ll frequently attempt the Terrelle Pryor &quot;oops I&#39;m huge&quot; redzone fade&hellip;</p>
<p align="center"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lrZYZktLdns" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p align="left">&hellip;and it&#39;s hard to see him not being more than that given the alternatives. Gardner played exclusively at wide receiver at the Mott open practice, and with the first team. I&#39;ve heard from multiple source since: that&#39;s no smokescreen.&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">While no one knows how this will go, the steady drumbeat of hype from players is encouraging. It took about all of a dozen spring practices for <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/rumormongering-burke-departure-gardner-wr-prospects" target="_blank">reports like this</a> to reach my ears:</p>
<blockquote><p align="left">Someone who&#39;s seen Gardner at all of Michigan&#39;s practices so far says he&#39;s &quot;instantly Michigan&#39;s best receiver and adds a new dimension to the offense.&quot; He&#39;s &quot;crazy athletic&quot; with &quot;surprisingly great hands.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">Similar reports popped up on the premium sites, and when fall camp started and everyone asked anyone in front of the mic about the possibility, his teammates said &quot;dang.&quot; <a href="http://annarbor.com/sports/um-football/devin-gardner-takes-more-snaps-at-wide-receiver-michigan-football-teammates-say-hes-a-natural-fit/?cmpid=mlive-%40mlive-wolverines&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader#.UDVJ-91lT5N" target="_blank">Kovacs</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>&quot;He&#39;s a great athlete, I feel like he could play anywhere and he could probably take my spot if he tried,&quot; Michigan senior safety <strong>Jordan Kovacs</strong> said. &quot;He&#39;s a natural athlete, and if they play him at receiver, I&#39;m sure he&#39;ll be pretty good.</p>
<p>&quot;Wherever he plays, he&#39;s going to make big plays.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">Denard:</p>
<blockquote><p align="left">&quot;When he gets out to receiver, you think he&#39;s a receiver,&quot; Robinson said. &quot;He looks like he&#39;s been playing there for years.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">And then there&#39;s this extremely reliable and not all dated video of Gardner screwing around at WR as a high school kid:</p>
<p align="center"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5BAdmLPyVIo" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p align="left">That&#39;s the ticket, man. They might have to protect him from getting jammed, but that&#39;s not too hard: line him up off the LOS, possibly in those stack formations, and there you go. Then it&#39;s about running the routes and catching the ball.&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">The possibility of a &quot;devin gardner dunked on tacopants&quot; tag and a paucity of options to fill the Junior Hemingway role that bailed the offense out time and again last year will see Gardner on the field. It may be sparingly at first, but if it&#39;s crunch time against Alabama do you want him on the bench?</p>
<p align="left">Attempting to predict what happens here is very difficult, but I&#39;m betting Gardner is one of four players approximately level on catches and yards at the end of the year, with no true star player. The upside is tantalizing, though, and your best hope for an offense that scorches both ground and sky. Devin Gardner, you&#39;ve been X-factor&#39;d.</p>
<p align="left"><strong><em>[hit THE JUMP to read up on Roundtree, Gallon, and company.]</em></strong></p>
<a name="more"></a><!--break--><!--break--><p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/dn181.jpg"><img alt="dn18[1]" border="0" height="272" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/dn181_thumb.jpg" title="dn18[1]" width="299" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/hs241.jpg"><img alt="hs24[1]" border="0" height="272" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/hs241_thumb.jpg" title="hs24[1]" width="259" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em>2011 was not 2010 for Roy Roundtree</em></p>
<p align="left">That <strong>Roy Roundtree </strong>gets second billing here is indicative of a one-year falloff that was essentially the Michigan defense in reverse. Thanks to a hefty serving of effective screens and safety freakouts, Roundtree was the Big Ten&#39;s second-leading receiver in 2010 with 935 yards on 72 catches. A year later he limped home with 355 yards on just 19 catches. I&#39;ve only got four clips for him from the Big Ten season, the same number as Drew Dileo.</p>
<p align="left">This was a combination of being targeted far less frequently and doing less when he was on the receiving end of a throw. Thanks to a <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/six-years-crazy-detailed-michigan-receiving-stats" target="_blank">huge Football Study Hall spreadsheet</a> we know that opportunities for Roundtree catches were more than halved (107 to 49) last year; worse than that&mdash;much worse&mdash;was a near-halving of his catch rate. After bringing in 67% of the balls tossed his way in 2010, he brought in 39% last year. If you&#39;re thinking this is due to the disappearance of bubble screens, sure, that&#39;s a factor, but Roundtree&#39;s catch rate was the second-worst of anyone since 2005. Only a very bad WR (2008 Darryl Stonum) getting even worse passes directed his way was even in the ballpark.</p>
<p align="left">But this isn&#39;t all, or even mostly, on Roundtree. Denard&#39;s erratic 2010 hit him hardest of all. Compare the UFR season totals for the three main WRs at the end of the regular season:</p>
<p align="left">[0 = uncatchable, 1 = remarkable, 2 = tough-ish, 3 = routine]</p>
<table class="tableizer-table">
<tbody>
<tr class="tableizer-firstrow">
<th>
Player</th>
<th>
0</th>
<th>
1</th>
<th>
2</th>
<th>
3</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>
<strong>Hemingway</strong></td>
<td>
<strong>11</strong></td>
<td>
0/2</td>
<td>
8/9</td>
<td>
22/<strong>25</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>
<strong>Roundtree</strong></td>
<td>
<strong>12</strong></td>
<td>
2/7</td>
<td>
6/8</td>
<td>
9/<strong>10</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>
<strong>Gallon</strong></td>
<td>
<strong>7</strong></td>
<td>
--</td>
<td>
2/3</td>
<td>
25/<strong>25</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p align="left"><font>Roundtree did as well as anyone on the team at catching the ball, he just got far crappier opportunities. A third of the balls thrown his way were totally uncatchable compared to 23% for Hemingway and 20% for Gallon; just 27% of throws at him were filed routine compared to 53% for Hemingway and 71% for Gallon. After a year of easy catches, Roundtree got pounded by the WCO transition. Maybe some of that was the fact that he couldn&#39;t turn some of those zeroes into better-than-zeroes like Hemingway could; I don&#39;t think that explains much. The numbers here are low enough that we are probably talking about the luck of the draw. </font></p>
<p align="left">Still, it&#39;s hard to see Roundtree reinflating back to his sophomore numbers. He was a slot for a reason. His willow-thin frame makes him easy to jam and he doesn&#39;t have the size to make himself a major deep threat. His athleticism is good for going up against safeties and linebackers; he struggles to get separation from high-quality corners.</p>
<p align="left">He can be better. He has worked on his Manningham-esque bump-and-extend technique, using it for big gains against Northwestern&hellip;</p>
<p align="left"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CCgAOZgY6YI" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p align="left">&hellip;and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO7NqwOmK6A" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">Nebraska</a>, but <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2011-offense-vs-iowa" target="_blank">biffing a critical one</a> in the Iowa game:</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roundtree-almost.jpg"><img alt="roundtree-almost" border="0" height="271" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roundtree-almost_thumb.jpg" title="roundtree-almost" width="480" /></a></p>
<p>Roundtree slowed up a moment before this still. If he runs through the ball this is a touchdown the DB can&#39;t do anything about. Arggggh.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">Work on that and Roundtree can haul in some long ones. That&#39;s still a relatively low-percentage play. Much more so than this from last year&#39;s preview:</p>
<blockquote><p>There&#39;s a certain theme running through many of Roundtree&#39;s long receptions: desolation. When Denard catches the safety the resulting throw looks like post-apocalyptic football. Where is everyone? They&#39;re dead. Let&#39;s run through this tumbleweed-infested secondary.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">That&#39;s not coming back. Roundtree&#39;s best hope is a major leap forward from Denard that finds him open in holes in the zone. A rebound should be expected, but to 30 or 40 catches only.</p>
<p align="left">[Roundtree&#39;s knee scope shouldn&#39;t be an issue, FWIW.]</p>
<h3 align="left">
Backups</h3>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/F6778761.jpg"><img alt="F677876[1]" border="0" height="274" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/F6778761_thumb.jpg" title="F677876[1]" width="316" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/JeremyJacksonMichiganvOhioStateue26MG4gJxYl1.jpg"><img alt="Jeremy Jackson Michigan v Ohio State ue26MG4gJxYl[1]" border="0" height="274" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/JeremyJacksonMichiganvOhioStateue26MG4gJxYl1_thumb.jpg" title="Jeremy Jackson Michigan v Ohio State ue26MG4gJxYl[1]" width="184" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em>Robinson, Jackson</em></p>
<p align="left"><strong>Jerald Robinson</strong> has been talked up for a few years now without any on-field impact following, and if Devin Gardner does end up being a full-time wide receiver that is unfavorable commentary on his ability to get it done.</p>
<p align="left">Robinson does have believers. When Michael Rothstein <a href="http://insider.espn.go.com/colleges/michigan/football/story/_/id/7740880/michigan-wolverines-seniors-anonymous-survey-part-one" target="_blank">surveyed the outgoing seniors</a>($) on who would break out next season, Robinson got the most votes and high praise:</p>
<blockquote><p align="left">&quot;He&#39;s got it. I see him in practice, special teams, scout team. He can do it.&quot; &hellip; &quot;He could be that guy that people don&#39;t know about yet. Watching him on the scout team, he has great body control in the air, can really go up for the ball. He&#39;s a good guy coming up.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">That&#39;s the kind of talk I believe since those surveyed could have picked anyone. Kevin Koger talked him up (along with Rawls and&mdash;er&mdash;Stonum) <a href="http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1313389" target="_blank">as well</a>. He&#39;s <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/jerald-robinson-hoping-to-end-questions-about-michigans-thin-wide-receiver-corps/#.UDloxtZlT5M" target="_blank">mastered the art of the nothing quote</a>, something that must greatly please his head coach.</p>
<p align="left">But that doesn&#39;t change the fact MGoBlog has nothing on him other than that hype. He had a similar amount last year, and was invisible in the spring game. He was invisible again this year and hasn&#39;t generated as much fall buzz as Amara Darboh, let alone Gardner. It&#39;s anyone&#39;s guess as to whether he makes it on the field much this year. If he doesn&#39;t, turn out the lights.</p>
<p align="left"><strong>Jeremy Jackson</strong> remains the son of hyperbole volcano Fred Jackson and a guy who <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2010-recruiting-jeremy-jackson" target="_blank">ESPN described as &quot;lumbering&quot;</a> in the first sentence of their evaluation. He does have a big frame and may emerge into a box-&#39;em-out possession guy as Michigan seeks to replace their lost production. He&#39;s a guy Michigan will throw on the field in multiple WR sets, hoping they can get him singled up on a linebacker or that he can out-jump a defensive back.</p>
<p align="left"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnkQDiewSw" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">His catch against Northwestern</a> is a good example of where he can be effective. There he dragged across the field on a play action waggle, coming open past a couple linebackers, and provided a big target for Gardner. Ballpark production: a dozen or so catches with a YPC just over ten.</p>
<p align="left">Two freshmen are next on the hit list. <strong>Amara Darboh</strong> [<a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2012-recruiting-amara-darboh" target="_blank">recruiting profile</a>] and <strong>Jehu Chesson</strong> [<a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2012-recruiting-jehu-chesson" target="_blank">recruiting profile</a>] are both big targets and refugees from African countries. Darboh&#39;s a lot thicker; Chesson is taller, possibly faster, and a better leaper. Borges <a href="http://btn.com/2012/08/23/btn-experts-michigan-football-practice-tweets/" target="_blank">says</a> both will play. Historically, &quot;play&quot; has meant &quot;block&quot; for freshmen wideouts at Michigan. This year they might get some actual targets. Darboh is in the lead for those, it seems.</p>
<p align="left">Finally, <strong>Ricardo Miller</strong> moves back from tight end. Moving a guy his size to tight end is to slap him across the face, tell him he has the athleticism of a dizzy hippopotamus, and challenge him to a duel. He gamely added some weight, was still way too small, and now returns to wideout. After that journey any remaining recruiting hype is gone. He&#39;ll get some sporadic snaps; more than a couple catches would be a surprise.</p>
<h3 align="left">
<strong>Slot Receiver</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Rating: 3.</strong></p>
<p>It&#39;s time for Annual MGoBlog Reminder That <strong>Jeremy Gallon</strong> <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/jeremy-gallon-vs-snoop" target="_blank">Looks Like Snoop</a> From <em>The Wire</em>. Fire up <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBhQbmPwH8" target="_blank">the Daft Punk</a>; here we go.</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/jeremygallonmug.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="jeremy-gallon-mug" border="0" height="224" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/jeremygallonmug_thumb.jpg" title="jeremy-gallon-mug" width="154" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/snoopthewire.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="snoop-the-wire" border="0" height="224" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/snoopthewire_thumb.jpg" title="snoop-the-wire" width="220" /></a><br />
<em>one more time</em></p>
<p align="left">Yeah. That&#39;s the stuff.</p>
<p align="left">When not looking exactly like Snoop from the Wire, Gallon spent his 2011 engaging a cloaking device that rescued the Notre Dame game&hellip;</p>
<p align="left"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V_Zb80jOddo" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p align="left">&hellip;and made Borges&#39;s throwback WR screens all but unstoppable. The targets listed above demonstrate where he was used: short, short, short. Denard occasionally took shots at him deep when he was single covered (and sometimes double), but he was mostly an underneath guy.</p>
<table align="right" width="160">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="158">
JEREMY GALLON</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="158">
MOUNTAIN GOATIN&#39;</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="158">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1JK102RtTk">pancakes on the edge</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="158">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6QMymRsHX0">flying squirrel block</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="158">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNbtUzPOtvc">thwack</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="158">
IT ALWAYS WORKS</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="158">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85oi6L5-208">NW TD</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="158">
DOES GET DOWNFIELD</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="158">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzE1Csp8rNQ">hauling in a bomb</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="158">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhrgtm9kk30">dig route</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="158">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntStRhBO0bY">crossing TD</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p align="left">Michigan will have to switch up their screens for Gallon to continue his production on balls thrown behind the line of scrimmage; they will and he&#39;ll get a bunch of targets on short stuff that he&#39;ll turn into nice gains. He&#39;ll also get a lot of run for his ability to headbutt opposing secondary members. Remember this from Denard&#39;s opening veer TD against OSU?</p>
<p align="left"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/duQPZpTAnnY" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>CJ Barnett, please report to aisle shame and regret.</p>
<p align="left">Al Borges told Tom Dienhart that Gallon <a href="http://btn.com/2012/08/23/btn-experts-michigan-football-practice-tweets/" target="_blank">had the best camp</a> of the WRs, but I&#39;m not sure how much more production Michigan can get out of him without resorting to the dread bubble screen. The throwback stuff is great if used sparingly, but no more, and the combination of an erratic passer and a short guy led Borges to focus on other wide receivers last year. There&#39;s no reason that should change now. Meanwhile, Gallon&#39;s proved only somewhat slippery. He&#39;s not doing crazy stuff when he gets the ball; he&#39;d have to to warrant increased short-range chances with Denard and Toussaint around.</p>
<p align="left">He&#39;ll probably get a few more targets just via seniority. Other than that, production on par with last year is reasonable.</p>
<h3>
Backups</h3>
<p>Junior <strong>Drew Dileo</strong> is the last of the Rodriguez waterbugs (though Hoke&#39;s collected a couple now). He&#39;s got a few catches to his credit, most impressively a 20-some-yard snag on Michigan&#39;s final drive against OSU:</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fih3lkGjnh4" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>He also was on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Djl_hl6iCE" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">receiving end of a Vincent Smith toss</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLqhDe_ewy4" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">got some mountain-goating in</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFBEQ2zwB3k" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">held on to a seam</a> despite getting lit up. By the end of the year he&#39;d reeled in 9 catches, seven of which were in the UFR charts, and had an impressive 4/5 on moderately tough catches to go with three routine ones. So far he&#39;s been a reliable option.</p>
<p>His height will always make him a less-than-great option&mdash;the gap between Denard&#39;s margin for error when throwing to him versus, say, Devin Funchess, is enormous&mdash;but that doesn&#39;t mean he can&#39;t be pretty good. With Odoms and Grady moving on there&#39;s another 20 slot targets available and with Kevin Koger out of the picture the slot&#39;s going to be on the field quite a bit this year. Dileo should get another ten or so opportunities, which he&#39;ll probably do well with.</p>
<p>While there are no scholarship slots behind Dileo, both <strong>Justice Hayes</strong> and<strong> Dennis Norfleet</strong> are running backs of the tiny jittery sort and may find their way onto the field as a third option at this spot when Michigan goes four wide. Both were regarded as excellent receivers coming out of high school (size caveats granted), and provide a big play possibility that Dileo might lack.</p>
<h3>
<strong>Tight End</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Rating: 2.</strong></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/9848611.jpg"><img alt="984861[1]" border="0" height="254" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/9848611_thumb.jpg" title="984861[1]" width="192" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/AJWilliams1.jpg"><img alt="AJWilliams[1]" border="0" height="254" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/AJWilliams1_thumb.jpg" title="AJWilliams[1]" width="194" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/rn_u_brandonmoore2_ms_6001.jpg"><img alt="rn_u_brandonmoore2_ms_600[1]" border="0" height="254" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Preview-2012-Receivers-of-All-Varieties_1A19/rn_u_brandonmoore2_ms_6001_thumb.jpg" title="rn_u_brandonmoore2_ms_600[1]" width="168" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em>Funchess / Williams / Moore</em></p>
<p align="left">What tight end? Kevin Koger&#39;s out the door and with him goes Steve Watson, leaving one veteran scholarship option: <strong>Brandon Moore</strong>. Moore&#39;s only notable contribution to date is blowing a protection on Michigan&#39;s disastrous fourth-and-inches against Michigan State. He was behind Watson (a James-Rogers-like positional vagabond). He made his second career catch against Purdue last year. The other was against Delaware State. Baby Seal U. Blast from the past, that.</p>
<p align="left">That doesn&#39;t inspire much confidence. Then Michigan moved walk-on <strong>Chris Eddins</strong> to TE, featured fellow walk-on <strong>Mike Kwiatkowski</strong> heavily in their spring practice videos, and ran an absolute ton of three-WR, two-RB sets in the spring game. I&#39;m thinking that the coaches don&#39;t have a lot of confidence in Moore, you guys.</p>
<p align="left">Therefore this preview expects that freshmen<strong> AJ Williams</strong> [<a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2012-recruiting-aj-williams" target="_blank">recruiting profile</a>] and <strong>Devin Funchess</strong> [<a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2012-recruiting-devin-funchess" target="_blank">recruiting profile</a>] get a plurality of snaps handed over to tight ends this year. Williams, a guy who moved to right tackle as a senior in high school, is 15-20 pounds heavier than anyone already mentioned and has spent his entire career to date run blocking. He will be featured on short yardage and goal-line packages and whenever Michigan decides to slam its head into the I-Form power wall.</p>
<p align="left">Funchess is one of those 6&#39;5&quot; Brent Petways that NFL teams like. While he&#39;s rail thin and likely useless as an inline blocker, Michigan should find him a better option than Moore or Eddins or anyone else on underneath stuff when Michigan&#39;s in the spread or on passing downs. He&#39;s bigger (at least in terms of catching radius) and more athletic than anyone else Michigan would consider in that role, including Jeremy Jackson, Roy Roundtree, etc etc etc. In the Mott practice Michigan went deep to him twice with good success; you know that Borges is plotting maniacal ways to occupy the safeties with other receivers so Funchess can burst into the second level. Once he ramps up a few games into this year he&#39;ll quickly find himself a safety blanket and possibly more. Twenty or even 30 catches are within reach.</p>
<p align="left">Moore and Kwiatkowski should play as well, especially early. Kwiatkowski featured as a guy making ridiculous catches in <em>Three And Out</em> and maybe gave you a flutter of hope in those spring videos. He may surprise.</p>
<p align="left">In any case, Michigan can&#39;t expect super production out of this spot since no one they&#39;ve got can block and catch, but since they&#39;ve at least got a guy or two who can do one or the other I&#39;ll bump this up to 2, i.e. &quot;not quite the <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/never-forget-michigan-secondary-time-heal">Never Forget</a> Secondary.&quot;</p>
<h3>
Backups</h3>
<p align="left">Ain&#39;t nobody I haven&#39;t mentioned. /spits</p>
http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2012-receivers-all-varieties#commentsaj williamsamara darbohbrandon mooredevin funchessdevin gardnerdrew dileojehu chessonjerald robinsonjeremy gallonjeremy gallon looks like snoop from the wirejeremy jacksonpreview 2012ricardo millerroy roundtreeTue, 28 Aug 2012 13:59:56 +0000Brian71356 at http://mgoblog.comRecruits In Retrospect: 2008 Offensehttp://mgoblog.com/content/recruits-retrospect-2008-offense
<p class="sans-2 rtecenter"><img alt="" rel="lightbox" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7303856006_124e572563_o.jpg" /><br />
<em>David Guralnick/The Detroit News</em></p>
<p>Continuing my theme of getting super-meta this offseason, I decided to take a look back at the MGoBlog recruiting recaps from the class of 2008&mdash;<a href="http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/2008-recruiting-recap-and-summary.html" target="_blank">hello, blogspot!</a>&mdash;and see how they stand up now that those players have either moved on from the program or are fifth-year seniors. 2008, of course, was the franken-class of Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez recruits, a bizarre blend of pro-style plodders and size-challenged spread speedsters. While it boasted 17 four-stars among 24 commits, finishing a very respectable tenth in the Rivals team rankings, the class would prove to be an unmitigated disaster, ravaged by attrition and marked with disappointment.</p>
<p>So, let&#39;s go back to a time when Michigan fans still held out hope for landing Terrelle Pryor&mdash;when these were written, still <strike>holding out for a better contract</strike> mulling his decision a month after signing day&mdash;to spearhead this newfangled spread offense. Today, I&#39;ll take a look at Brian&#39;s offensive evaluations, and the defense will be covered next week. For reference, links to the original posts: <a href="http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/2008-recruing-quarterback-and-running.html" target="_blank">Quarterback and Running Back</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/2008-recruiting-receivers.html" target="_blank">Receivers</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/2008-recruiting-tight-ends.html" target="_blank">Tight Ends</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/2008-recruiting-offensive-line.html" target="_blank">Offensive Line</a>. If you&#39;re anything like me, perusing those is a remarkably fun way to waste time.</p>
<h3>
Easy Joke Is Easy</h3>
<p><img alt="" rel="lightbox" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l4ZZFzs7VIs/R6-wlEw2EnI/AAAAAAAAAzk/7T0REMwFUVM/s400/feagin-signing.jpg" style="float: right;" />With a major change in offensive scheme, Michigan was in desperate need of a dual-threat quarterback. Pryor was the ultimate prize, and Rodriguez was forced to hedge his bets with <strong>Justin Feagin</strong>, an under-the-radar athlete from Florida whose best offers were to play wide receiver at LSU or defensive back at Miami (YTM).</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Projection:</strong> Someone&#39;s going to play Tebow to Threet&#39;s Chris Leak this fall; unless Carlos Brown locks that down, it&#39;ll be Feagin. I have no idea what to expect, but think his future is probably somewhere other than quarterback.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Namely, the <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/news/former-wolverine-justin-feagin-arraigned-on-conspiracy-drug-charges/" target="_blank">inside of a courtroom</a>. ZING! (Really, when it comes to the 2008 quarterback situation, dark humor is the only option lest you want to break down in tears.)</p>
<p>Ironically, it was his off-field actions that made Feagin one of the recruits Brian was &quot;baselessly excited about in defiance of recruiting rankings and reason,&quot; due to late-night workouts and multiple quotes expressing no concern about potentially having to compete with Pryor for the starting job. It was noted that Feagin required &quot;a ton of developing to be a legitimate quarterback,&quot; which was readily apparent during his brief appearances as a freshman. Then came the cocaine stuff and subsequent boot, so we&#39;ll never know whether Feagin could&#39;ve turned into a passable receiver.</p>
<h3>
NEVER FORGET</h3>
<p>I started following recruiting seriously when a friend showed me <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkvhIDsCJck" target="_blank">Noel Devine&#39;s highlight tape</a> during my senior year of high school. Since I had little understanding at the time about how recruiting actually worked, I was bitterly disappointed when Devine seemingly had zero interest in Michigan (and vice versa), eventually ending up at West Virginia. I swore never to get my hopes up about highlight tape heroes again.</p>
<p>So the next year, when another atom-sized running back took the YouTubes by storm, I had little hope that this Texan doing heel-clicks on the backs of linebackers would even consider donning the Maize and Blue. Even so, I&#39;d watch his tape on repeat, sharing it with friends whenever the opportunity arose; seeing their eyes bug while asking what in the hell they just watched never got old. This is what they saw [NSFW audio warning]:</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x4IJ17ODo_s" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p>Then, of course, the impossible occurred: <strong>Sam McGuffie</strong> signed with Michigan, though not before nearly shattering our dreams during a signing day flirtation with Cal. Brian, however, was nonplussed, proferring <a href="http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/2008-recruing-quarterback-and-running.html" target="_blank">this muted reaction</a> to McGuffie&#39;s inclusion in the class:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>General Excitement Level:</strong> AAAAIIEEEE! Man... this offense is McGuffie&#39;s <em>jam,</em> man, and the Church Of Barwis will excommunicate anyone who doubts his his&#39;s ability to get up to 200-some pounds without compromising his lightning quicks. Steve Slaton <a href="http://wbgv.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/dear-mike-barwis-i-love-you/">says what</a>.<br />
<strong>Projection:</strong> He&#39;s the man, man. Will battle Brown and Grady for carries at first; probably a Noel Devine role his first year.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Oh. Unfortunately, you all know how this one went. McGuffie showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman in 2008, but also the durability of a paper bag. After finishing the season as the team&#39;s second-leading rusher, he decided to transfer closer to home, ending up at Rice, where he&#39;ll be a redshirt senior in 2012. Not exactly what we&#39;d all envisioned when the guy who <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t2gplt2dyc" target="_blank">frontflipped over J.B. Shugarts</a> at the Army Game hit campus.</p>
<p>McGuffie wasn&#39;t the only back in the class, however, as he was joined by two other intriguing prospects. Rich Rodriguez earned the &quot;snake-oil salesman&quot; moniker for snatching Roy Roundtree from Purdue (more on him later), but his other signing day surprise was pulling Trotwood-Madison RB <strong>Michael Shaw</strong> away from Penn State. You&#39;ll never guess what Brian noticed on his film [emphasis mine]:</p>
<blockquote><p>I am not a scout, but in the <a href="http://www.scoutingohio.com/Michael_Shaw_Trotwood_Madison.htm">Shaw video</a> at Scouting Ohio I saw a guy with a knack for catching the flare, good speed, and exactly one move: <strong>an upfield cut followed by a bounce-out</strong> that got him outside high school defenders with regularity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And thus we find the origins of bouncebouncebouncebounce.</p>
<p>The final back in the class was a relative unknown from the football hotbed of Avon, Connecticut. <strong>Mike Cox</strong>&#39;s name required a disclaimer in the notes section of his profile&mdash;&quot;Degree of difficulty applies on all jokes about his name. (IE: please no &quot;Mike Cox is huge&quot; jokes.)&quot;&mdash;while his school&#39;s sporting pedigree invited a healthy dose of skepticism:</p>
<blockquote><p>There&#39;s almost zero reliable data on Cox. His high school conference is well known for hockey -- read full of rich white guys named &quot;Higginbotham&quot; (no, <a href="http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/meet-mike-cox.html">literally</a>) -- and is awful at football.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Until reading the profile, I had completely forgotten that Michigan took Cox over four-star Detroit Country Day product and eventual Notre Dame commit Jonas Gray. In retrospect, I think it&#39;s safe to say that was a mistake, even though Gray wasn&#39;t a major contributor until his senior season. At least we got four years of stale dick jokes, though.</p>
<h3>
NEVER FORGET, Part Deux</h3>
<p>Rodriguez&#39;s hire brought to Michigan the era of the waterbug slot guy, which promised to be great fun for a fanbase used to watching tiny track-star guys tear it up only for opponents. The recruit expected to come in and make a big splash early was four-star <strong>Terrence Robinson</strong> out of Klein, Texas, and all it took was one physics-defying play to see why:</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UN9dlReSJjk" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p>Commits pulling Hakeem Olajuwon post moves at warp speed during a football game understandably cause a fair amount of excitement. Brian busted out the obligatory Breaston comparison and projected him to be in the mix at both returner and slot receiver. Robinson finished his Michigan career with one catch, two kickoff returns, and one punt return for a grand total of 94 all-purpose yards.</p>
<p>Michigan&#39;s other slot ninja was Pahokee&#39;s <strong>Martavious Odoms</strong>, whose profile contains endless testimonials about his rabbit-chasing speed. Brian&#39;s comparison is Devin Hester and also a version of Steve Breaston that actually catches the bombs:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>General Excitement Level:</strong> Moderate++. He&#39;s never going to be Braylon Edwards but if he&#39;s as fast as his reputation he could be a dynamite returner and even a deep threat: remember Steve Breaston&#39;s ill-fated career as the target of bombs? Well, he was open by yards time and again because opposing players got smoked by his moves and always dropped the ball. Odoms looks like he&#39;s pretty good at hauling in deep balls.<br />
<strong>Projection:</strong> Will press for time as a returner immediately and is 50-50 to be the designated bubble screen guy, with Terrance Robinson the other option. Starts off with an advantage on Robinson because he&#39;s spent the last four years as a receiver.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Evaluation severely lacking in mountain goat blocking praise.</p>
<p>Despite the excitement over the tiny slot guys, the biggest expectations were reserved for consensus top-100 receiver <strong>Darryl Stonum</strong>, who chose Michigan over Florida, Alabama, USC, and Florida State. Breathless hype part one:</p>
<blockquote><p>Natural change of direction? Fluid hips? Comes down with jump balls? A mix of Braylon Edwards and Mario Manningham... which, like, dude.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And part two:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>General Excitement Level:</strong> Maximal. The second most likely kid in the class to have a long, productive career at Michigan, IMO, behind Dann O&#39;Neill.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Stonum&#39;s production disappointed, even after it was discovered that he&#39;d been playing half-blind and needed contacts, and his career came to an untimely end after a string of alcohol- and driving-related arrests.</p>
<p>The last of the four receiver recruits was <strong>Roy Roundtree</strong>, another Trotwood-Madison star whose projection was the closest to the eventual reality:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>General Excitement Level:</strong> Moderate. Never going to be a gamebreaker, but a likely contributor. Has to add a lot of weight to be an effective player.<br />
<strong>Projection:</strong> Redshirts, plays sparingly his second year, and is 50-50 to emerge into Michigan&#39;s #2 WR.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Roundtree redshirted, then led the team in catches in each of the next two seasons, though this was more the product of the offense&mdash;Roundtree was the main beneficiary of QB Oh Noes&mdash;than him being a true #1 receiver, though he may be forced into that role this season.</p>
<h3>
Caveats Apply</h3>
<p>The 2008 class also featured two four-star tight end recruits, though both came with significant question marks. For <strong>Brandon Moore</strong>, the third of the Trotwood trio, the question was whether he was the future star who earned top-100 rankings and big-time offers after a standout junior season or the potential bust whose stock slipped significantly during a disappointing senior year. Scout actually started out with Moore as their #98 overall prospect before dropping him all the way to three stars and the #43(!) tight end. The verdict:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>General Excitement Level:</strong> High, with caveats. Moore is a boom-or-bust guy with much potential but a long way to go.<br />
<strong>Projection:</strong> Great success, great failure, or somewhere in between. Specific cat is specific.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Barring an out-of-nowhere breakout season in 2012, bust it is.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Michigan took a head-to-head battle with Ohio State for Toledo Whitmer&#39;s <strong>Kevin Koger</strong>, but it was unclear whether he&#39;d stick at tight end or eventually make a move to defensive end:</p>
<blockquote><p>It must be said: Koger is widely regarded a prospect of equal or greater merit at defensive end, and with Nick Perry&#39;s escape to Southern Cal Michigan finds themselves with one defensive end recruit across two classes. Though it&#39;s possible one of the linebackers -- most likely Marcus Witherspoon -- could end up with his hand down, Michigan is critically short there.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A down-the-line move was projected, but that was largely based on the assumption that Moore would pan out. Instead, it was Koger who&#39;d get the lion&#39;s share of the snaps at tight end for the next four years.</p>
<h3>
Brian&#39;s O-line Knowledge Has Come A Long Way</h3>
<p>One of the staples of the recruiting recaps is the &quot;<abbr title="you may remember me from such players as">YMRMFSPA</abbr>&quot; section, in which Brian compares the recruit&#39;s style of play to a notable former player (usually a Wolverine, but not always, as evidenced by the Hester comparison for Odoms). With Michigan pulling in six offensive linemen in 2008, coming up with the proper approximation got a little difficult:</p>
<blockquote><p>Dann O&#39;Neill: <abbr title="you may remember me from such players as">YMRMFSPA</abbr> Jake Long. No pressure.<br />
Kurt Wermers: <abbr title="you may remember me from such players as">YMRMFSPA</abbr> Matt Lentz?<br />
Elliott Mealer: <abbr title="you may remember me from such players as">YMRMFSPA</abbr> Matt Stenavich(?)<br />
Rocko Khoury: <abbr title="you may remember me from such players as">YMRMFSPA</abbr> Uh, that other un-touted guard person.<br />
Ricky Barnum: <abbr title="you may remember me from such players as">YMRMFSPA</abbr> Rod Payne?<br />
Patrick Omameh: <abbr title="you may remember me from such players as">YMRMFSPA </abbr>????</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dave Petruziello and Leo Henige feel very neglected, man.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://l.yimg.com/a/p/sp/r/0c/0ca68ac5055dbc3d0786cb07a79e685b/116710.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 267px; float: right;" />As you can see above, before Taylor Lewan was the Next Jake Long, that distinction went to <strong>Dann O&#39;Neill</strong>, a top 100 recruit from Grand Haven. Not only was O&#39;Neill quite a talent, his services were desperately needed along a thin offensive line:</p>
<blockquote><p>Dann O&#39;Neill might be Michigan&#39;s most critical recruit. The only tackles in the last two recruiting classes are incumbent RT Steve Schilling, three-star Perry Dorrestein, and two-star sleeper (as in &quot;only had offers from MAC schools&quot; sleeper) Mark Huyge. Finding two starting tackles from that group once the Zirbel-Ortmann class graduates in two years was looking very risky.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Brian projected O&#39;Neill to start &quot;at some point, hopefully later (say, as a redshirt sophomore) rather than sooner (say, this fall).&quot; Instead, he never played a down as a Wolverine, transferring to Western Michigan after his freshman year. He would eventually earn a start at Michigan Stadium in 2011, but as a member of the Broncos.</p>
<p>The other future washout on the line was Indiana guard <strong>Kurt Wermers</strong>, whose off-field hobbies were not exactly typical of a football player [emphasis Brian&#39;s]:</p>
<blockquote><p>Wermers was also named to the stupidly named &quot;Offense-Defense Bowl&quot; in Miami. The OD bowl appears to be a sort of second-tier all star game. Big whoop, except for the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS24879+28-Nov-2007+PRN20071128">press release announcing the selection</a>:</p>
<p> &quot;Wermers, a veritable renaissance man whose hobbies include weightlifting, playing guitar, singing, and reading, also <strong>enjoys spending time on the virtual field of battle in the wildly popular massively multiplayer role-playing game World of Warcraft</strong> when not battling in the trenches on the football field.&quot;</p>
<p>This dovetails with <a href="http://nwitimes.com/articles/2007/04/14/columnists/steve_hanlon/docc03963e821dbb9f1862572bc006e21d2.txt">information from May</a> about Wermer&#39;s participation in... <em>an a capella group:</em></p>
<p> &quot;I love it,&quot; Wermers said of singing. &quot;It gives me a chance to get away from big jocky athletic guys and hang out with a different group of people.&quot;</p>
<p>I don&#39;t think we&#39;ll be having any discipline issues with young Mr. Wermers. It&#39;s just a feeling.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Wermers left the team before the 2009 season, saying he <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/ring-and-run-kurt-wermers-ring-and-run" target="_blank">decided to transfer</a> because Rodriguez was &quot;bringing in a lot of different kids that were not my kind of crowd,&quot; and running the team like a business (Wermers signed when Carr was the coach, but obviously never played under him). It was later revealed that Wermers <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/kurt-wermers-got-out-when-he-had" target="_blank">was academically ineligible</a> when he announced his transfer, probably because he was playing WoW instead of going to class. Discipline issues: check.</p>
<p>The player who&#39;s actually panned out was the lowest-ranked among the six, <strong>Patrick Omameh</strong>, a two-star DE to Rivals and the #87 OT to Scout. There wasn&#39;t much comment on Omameh beyond addressing his sleeper status; speculation about his future position turned out to go 0-for-2:</p>
<blockquote><p>There are conflicting reports as to whether Omameh was recruited as a center (where his intelligence would help with the line calls) or tackle; that will get sorted out somewhere down the line.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As you know, Omameh is entering his third year as the full-time starter at... right guard.</p>
<p>Finally, <strong>Ricky Barnum</strong> peered into the future and got a serious head start on his future team&#39;s biggest rivalry:</p>
<blockquote><p>Various people are probably irritated with Ricky Barnum: Urban Meyer, for one. Also OH OL Zebrie Sanders, who tried to commit to Florida but was told to <a href="http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/shared-blogs/ajc/cfbrecruit/entries/2008/01/12/florida_rejects.html">talk to the hand</a> because Barnum and another player had filled Florida&#39;s OL quotient for the year. Sanders, also rejected by Georgia for the same reason, ended up at Florida State and Urban ended up short one highly recruited interior lineman. Not that anyone will ever shed a tear for Urban Meyer.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Well done, Ricky.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/recruits-retrospect-2008-offense#comments2008 recruitingbrandon moorecritiquing the boss oh crap he's no longer on painkillersdann o'neilldarryl stonumjustin feaginkevin kogerkurt wermersmartavious odomsmichael shawmike coxpatrick omamehricky barnumroy roundtreesam mcguffiesummer timekillin'terrence robinsonThu, 31 May 2012 13:18:35 +0000Ace69147 at http://mgoblog.comSpring Game Primer: Offensehttp://mgoblog.com/content/spring-game-primer-offense
<p class="rtecenter"><img alt="" rel="lightbox" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5442/6924893812_02bca9c158_o.jpg" /><br />
<em>Sophomore Thomas Rawls is making a push for more carries this fall.</em></p>
<p>This Saturday marks the Spring Game, when we all watch a glorified scrimmage and make snap judgments like &quot;Mark Moundros is going to start at middle linebacker,&quot; and &quot;Tate Forcier has the Heisman in his future.&quot; (Okay, I admit, I said both of those things, but luckily the evidence has been wiped from the internet.) Nevertheless, it&#39;s the only semi-competitive football we&#39;ll see until the fall, providing us our lone peek into the progress of the team and the various position battles.</p>
<p>Here&#39;s what I&#39;ll be hoping to see from the offense on Saturday:</p>
<p><strong>Mediocrity. </strong>I know, right? This is actually more of a defensive point, but I want to put this here: in the spring, the defense should be ahead of the offense in terms of installing their schemes and playing cohesively. It&#39;s no coincidence that we saw the offense absolutely wreck the defense in the 2009 and 2010 games, then look downright ugly at times in last year&#39;s edition. I don&#39;t need to tell you how those respective seasons turned out. After just two weeks of practice, the offensive line won&#39;t have gelled like they will in the fall, the timing between quarterback and receiver is often a little off, and the playbook is still very much in the installation phase. This plea may fall on deaf ears, but don&#39;t freak out if the offense isn&#39;t marching up and down the field; in fact, feel free to be a bit encouraged.</p>
<p><strong>Gardner Gardner Gardner. </strong>All eyes will be on Devin Gardner, though the odds of the coaches trotting him out at receiver for a nationally-televised scrimmage are somewhere between zero and zero. He will be playing quarterback, however, and it&#39;s time to see a big step forward from him in the passing game. Practice accounts have been positive in that regard and it sounds like he&#39;s the clear-cut #2 QB ahead of Russell Bellomy, though we&#39;ll see how big of a gap there is between those two. If Bellomy looks like a passable second-stringer, you can keep hope alive for some Denard-to-Devin connections in the fall. If not, the coaches may find it too risky to split Gardner out wide.</p>
<p><strong>Bowling Ball Rawls. </strong>I was pretty high on Thomas Rawls when he came out of high school, and after a freshman year spent mostly on the bench, he&#39;s impressed practice observers with his power as a running back and is making a strong push for the backup job. Vincent Smith will inevitably see snaps on third down, but there&#39;s still room for a back to spell Fitzgerald Toussaint on occasion and provide a different look in the backfield. Though Rawls won&#39;t make many people miss, he can knock them over, and if he shows that against the first team defense we can start thinking of him as a change-of-pace/short-yardage back. Redshirt freshman Justice Hayes has also drawn praise in the spring, though he&#39;ll have to prove he&#39;s either a more effective runner than Rawls or a more explosive receiving option than Smith to carve out a role; neither is out of the question given his athleticism.</p>
<p><strong>Number One Target? </strong>The general assumption is that Roy Roundtree will be the top receiver this year, but I&#39;m not sold on that. His production dropped dramatically last season as he played more on the outside and was no longer the beneficiary of numerous QB OH NOES as a RichRod slot receiver. Jeremy Gallon flashed a lot of talent last season, and I think he&#39;ll be a very capable second option, but he&#39;s 5&#39;8&quot;. Hope may come in the form of redshirt sophomore Jerald Robinson, who&#39;s been lauded as a potential go-to guy this spring despite never recording a collegiate catch. This may be your standard Johnny Sears-type spring hype, but let&#39;s withhold judgment until we see him on the field. If nobody looks like a solid #1 option, there&#39;s going to be a lot of pressure on Amara Darboh come fall.</p>
<p><strong>My Kingdom for a Tight End. </strong>This is the scariest position group on the roster, and that&#39;s taking into account the fact that the offensive line has almost no depth. Redshirt senior Brandon Moore is the starter by default; he&#39;s had issues with drops in the past, so hope he holds onto the ball if it comes his way. Converted wideout Ricardo Miller will get time as an H-back (the &quot;U&quot; tight end in this offense), and he must prove he can hold up as a blocker if he wants to see much time. Behind them are redshirt senior walk-on Mike Kwiatkowski and converted DE Jordan Paskorz. If this unit isn&#39;t a total liability, I&#39;ll take it, especially with A.J. Williams and Devin Funchess providing reinforcements in the fall. If they are, Al Borges is going to have to get very creative with his schemes.</p>
<p><strong>O-line Depth: Do We Have Any? </strong>The first-team offensive line should be just fine, with projected left guard starter Elliott Mealer the only unknown quantity. Mealer is a redshirt senior who&#39;s currently beating out a highly-touted (and massive) redshirt freshman in Chris Bryant, so I&#39;m not too concerned about his ability to fit in. Ricky Barnum has reportedly adjusted well to his new role as starting center; again, I&#39;m optimistic about the first team&#39;s ability. PANIC! will set in, however, if a starting lineman goes down, especially a tackle. The second-team line this spring features three(!) walk-ons, and while redshirt sophomore guard Joey Burzynski has impressed practice observers, color me skeptical of any 6&#39;1&quot;, 284-pound walk-on being anything but a frightening liability in a game situation. The backup tackles are all walk-ons, at least until Kyle Kalis hits campus for the fall, so expect Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield to be encased in bubble wrap until September.</p>
<p><strong>Kickers. </strong>Make your field goals, please and thank you. That is all.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/spring-game-primer-offense#comments2012 spring gamebrandon moorechris bryantdevin gardnerelliott mealerjerald robinsonjeremy gallonjeremy jacksonjoey burzynskijustice hayesricardo millerroy roundtreerussell bellomythomas rawlsThu, 12 Apr 2012 16:32:40 +0000Ace68036 at http://mgoblog.comSpring Practice Presser Transcript 4-3-12: Fitz Toussaint and Brandon Moorehttp://mgoblog.com/content/spring-practice-presser-transcript-4-3-12-fitz-toussaint-and-brandon-moore
<p><em>(Audio for transcription courtesy of WolverineNation)</em></p>
<h1>
Fitz Toussaint</h1>
<p><img alt="" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7132/6899569292_6e0a89d2d8_o.jpg" style="width: 560px; height: 394px; " /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><em>vs. EMU / I don&#39;t think this was a very good day for Fitz.</em></p>
<p><strong>How is the spring going, and how are the running backs competing?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just like last year. We&rsquo;re all trying to get the No. 1 spot. We all do a pretty good job of learning things equally, and I think the coaches are doing a good job teaching it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Have you approached it differently this spring considering all the experience you got last year?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;A little more aggressive in doing what I have to do and everything.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What did last year teach you about competing for that No. 1 job?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Just to keep competing because somebody could be right behind you trying to take your spot.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Have you been able to see any of the young guys a little more since the coaches have said they&rsquo;re going to give them more snaps?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah, those guys are doing good. I feed off them and they feed off me. I think that&rsquo;s really where the competition comes from, and we&rsquo;re able to work off that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Which of them has impressed you the most?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re all different, but equal. They all have different styles. Rawls is a little speedster, and Hayes has a little power. It&rsquo;s kind of like the opposite.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Opposite of what we think of them?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah. Rawls has a little more power, but I think both of them are equal.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What did Saturday show about yourself personally and your team?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;That I&rsquo;m willing to do anything for my team. I can be put in any position and handle it well.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you mean by that?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Just in terms of pressure things like that. Able to work out, just play my position, play my role.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Borges said that you needed to work on certain things to stay on the field for every down. What have you done to work towards that goal?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Just off the field things -- working on blocking right, proper techniques. Coach J does a good job of teaching us that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What are you doing to work on your blocking?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Just things like bags, blocking with the other fellas, just working on proper technique. Sometimes we look at the linemen and see how they do it and try to translate that and do our thing with it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you watch film on Vincent Smith at all?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Oh definitely Vincent. I think Michael Shaw did a pretty good job of picking [up] stuff like that, so I kind of watch film from last year and see how those guys [did] it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Can you explain why an effective and experienced offensive line is key?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re feeding off what those guys did last year, and the expectation for the position -- I think those guys can handle it well.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Where do you think you have made the most improvement?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say my blocking skills. Working on that -- I think that&rsquo;s really heavy in this offense. You really have to pick up pass protection. I think that&rsquo;s key.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>We saw a bunch of big runs from you on the Saturday scrimmage highlights. Can you describe some of those plays?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more the offensive line doing their job. I was able to go off of that and make big plays.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Have you been making more of those plays this spring than last spring?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s kind of the same.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Borges talks about your vision having improved over last season. Do you feel like it&rsquo;s still improving?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Definitely. I think it&rsquo;s just coming off of being more comfortable, not trying to hold pressure on myself. Just comfortoable, laid back, and doing my job.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you feel yourself recognizing the play and anticipating where to go much quicker?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Definitely. I can analyze more and just be patient.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How much are you working on catching balls out of the backfield?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think I work on that equally as I do with anything else.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How&rsquo;s that going?</strong><br />
&ldquo;Pretty good. I think I have pretty good hands and catch the ball well.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Have you noticed that being a greater emphasis in the offense this spring, i.e. running backs catching ball out of backfield?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s pretty important. We have to come out of the backfield and catch the ball pretty [fluid? fluent?]. I think coach really put the emphasis on that this spring, and we work with that well.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>You&rsquo;re getting fewer reps this spring. Do you have to do anything to stay sharp?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Just take advantage of the plays I do have &hellip; just do my job.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Would you rather have more reps?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s good for the young guys to be able to get in and do what they have to do to show the coaches something.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Is it hard for you, though?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Not really, because I can coach those guys up. I feel that my experience will go higher with that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Have any of the young linebackers impressed you?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Desmond Morgan. But I mean we saw that last year.&rdquo;</p>
<p>-----</p>
<h1>
Brandon Moore</h1>
<p><img alt="" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7129/6899569194_05aaff27ea_o.jpg" style="width: 560px; height: 373px; " /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><em>No. 89</em></p>
<p><strong>How has it been different this spring vs. previous springs when you had veterans ahead of you?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot different, but of course just like every spring, we&rsquo;re working towards that goal, working towards getting better in every aspect of the game, so in a way it&rsquo;s different because I&rsquo;m expected to step up in my position. It&rsquo;s also just the same because I&rsquo;m just working towards getting better each and every day.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How much further along do you feel compared with a year ago? Do you feel more responsibility on your shoulders?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Of course there&rsquo;s more responsibilty on my shoulders because I&rsquo;m a veteran. I&rsquo;m a senior, and this is our team, so of course there&rsquo;s pressure right there. As far as my development, I feel like I&rsquo;m getting a lot better and playing with a lot more speed because I&rsquo;m more used to the offense. It&rsquo;s not so much thinking within the offense. It&rsquo;s just playing rather than thinking about what my assignments are.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What part of your game has grown the most in spring camp so far?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I would have to say my blocking. I&rsquo;m thinking a lot less now, and I&rsquo;m able to go out and make the blocks rather than thinking [I have to] make sure this guy doesn&rsquo;t get over me and stuff like that. Definitely my blocking and thinking less and just playing.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you feel like you need to improve most September 1<sup>st</sup>?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Every part. I want to get better at catching the ball, I want to get better at blocking, I want to get better at running routes. There&rsquo;s not a part that I don&rsquo;t want to get better at.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What do you mean when you say you&rsquo;re thinking less?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;As far as just knowing how the offense works. Knowing where the play&rsquo;s going. Knowing where the running back&rsquo;s going. Not really worrying about the defensive lineman&rsquo;s getting inside of me or outside of me. Just worry about knowing where I have to block.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Borges emphasizes the tight end position. How confident are you that the current personnel on the roster can get the job done?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m definitely confident with [the guys in] our room. We have a lot of great players in there. We have Ricardo Miller, Mike Kwiatkowski, and we have a couple freshmen coming in. I&rsquo;m really excited about our offense and the tight ends. All of us are making progress every day.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Last year there was open competition at running back. Do you see the tight end position similar to that situation?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Of course, there&rsquo;s competition at every position. There&rsquo;s no position that&rsquo;s set with a player. I don&rsquo;t really see a difference between my position and any other position on the field.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you feel more comfortable at the U or the Y position?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I feel I can play either. Anywhere I can help the team out.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What have Miller and Kwiatkowski done so far in spring practice? What kind of personality do they bring on the field?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Ricardo, he&rsquo;s a really good athlete. He moved from wide receiver, so he has the wide reciever skills at the tight end position. He runs fast. He runs really great routes. He has great hands. There&rsquo;s a lot of things Ricardo brings. Mike is a big, strong guy, and he moves guys on the line of scrimmage, so he does a great job blocking, and he does a great job running routes, also.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How hard has it been to wait your whole career to have this chance?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Um, man &hellip; how difficult has it been &hellip; I want to say it&rsquo;s been difficult because I&rsquo;ve been working to this chance my entire career. Of course it&rsquo;s been difficult to be behind great players like Kevin Koger and Martell Webb and Steve Watson, but I&rsquo;m ready to have my chance.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Can you talk about some of the guys who have switched to tight end recently, like Jordan Paskorz and Chris Eddins?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re definitely adjusting to the position. They&rsquo;re trying to learn the plays, understand the playbook and things such as that. Of course there&rsquo;s a little learning curve as far as learning the position, but they&rsquo;re working hard to get better each and every day.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How is the chemistry between the tight ends and the quarterbacks?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We have great chemistry. We&rsquo;ve been coming in here on our own like throwing passes with the quarterbacks. There&rsquo;s a good chemistry. He knows where we&rsquo;re going to be at when we&rsquo;re in our position, and stuff like that.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>What did you learn from guys like Kevin Koger?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I was behind Kevin my entire career, and he&rsquo;s a great player, but he&rsquo;s an even better person. He&rsquo;s a great leader, he knows how to get the team motivated. He kept a set of the playbook year round, and what I learned from him was just play like a professional. Just going out there each and every day and get better each and every day. Just doing everything to your greatest abilities.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Kevin had to wait to be featured, too. Does some of his patience rub off on you, too?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Oh yeah. Of course it did. Just being with him -- we&rsquo;ve been together a long time. I knew him before we got here. Our personalities rubbed off on each other a little bit.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>He&rsquo;s kind of a loud guy, right?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yeah, he&rsquo;s a loud guy. I&rsquo;m more of a quiet guy. I&rsquo;m probably one of the more quiet guys on the team.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>As the team comes to understand the offense more, has the tight end role been changing at all?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes, of course, because once everyone learns the offense they can play multiple positions. A tight end can move out to wide receiver, or a wide receiver can move to tight end. Just learning the playbook and knowing what everyone does on the field, you have a chance to play different positions.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Does it help to have someone on the team that you went to high school with?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes, of course. Coming here with Roy and Shaw, those were my two best friends. Those were my brothers. Having them here as support was one of the best things that could happen for me.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Has Roy walked you through anything this spring now that you&rsquo;re in this elevated role?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to say he really walked me through, but we&rsquo;ve been going through this together for a long time. It&rsquo;s not necessarily him walking me through it or me walking him through it. We&rsquo;re just walking through this together.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Do you think this offense will be more explosive than a year ago, and why?</strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;More explosive? Well yeah, we can be more explosive. Of course we want to be more explosive, and we have a chance of doing that because we understand the offense a lot better and we&rsquo;ve been in this offense for another year now.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/spring-practice-presser-transcript-4-3-12-fitz-toussaint-and-brandon-moore#commentsbrandon moorefitzgerald toussaintpress conference recapsspring practice 2012actual reportingThu, 05 Apr 2012 14:20:31 +0000Heiko67850 at http://mgoblog.comPreview 2011: Receivers Of All Varietieshttp://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2011-receivers-all-varieties
<p><strong>Previously</strong>: <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/story-2011-mitigating-william-caines">The story</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2011-secondary">the secondary</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2011-linebackers">the linebackers</a>, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2011-defensive-line#new">the defensive line</a>, and the <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2011-offensive-line" target="_blank">offensive line</a>.</p>
<p align="center"><strong>Depth Chart</strong></p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th>WR</th>
<th>Yr.</th>
<th>WR</th>
<th>Yr.</th>
<th>Slot</th>
<th>Yr.</th>
<th>TE</th>
<th>Yr.</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><strong>Junior Hemingway</strong></td>
<td><strong>Sr.*</strong></td>
<td><strong>Martavious Odoms</strong></td>
<td><strong>Sr.</strong></td>
<td><strong>Roy Roundtree</strong></td>
<td><strong>Jr.*</strong></td>
<td><strong>Kevin Koger</strong></td>
<td><strong>Sr.</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Jeremy Jackson</td>
<td>So.</td>
<td>Jeremy Gallon</td>
<td>So.*</td>
<td>Kelvin Grady</td>
<td>Sr.*</td>
<td>Brandon Moore</td>
<td>Jr.*</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Drew Dileo</td>
<td>So.</td>
<td>Jerald Robinson</td>
<td>Fr.*</td>
<td>Terrance Robinson</td>
<td>Jr.*</td>
<td>Steve Watson</td>
<td>Sr.*</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Yeah, I know the depth chart lists a fullback and crams the wideouts into two spots, but Al Borges keeps saying shotgun and wideouts and even Lloyd Carr rocked three-wide for much of his later period. The slot lives here, for at least another year or two. The slot lives on like whoah, actually: six of the nine guys on that depth chart can't get on the rides at Cedar Point, and one of the exceptions is the returning starter in the… slot.</p>
<p>So they're going to be short. And you should take the above depth chart with as much of a grain of salt as I did the official one and its lack of a slot and placement of Martavious Odoms on the third string. Any of these guys could pop up anywhere save Hemingway, Jackson, and Robinson, who are outside guys exclusively. It sounds like <a href="http://detnews.com/article/20110823/SPORTS0201/108230333/1131/rss17" target="_blank">everyone is an outside guy now</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>&quot;The difference in this offense is there aren't really slot receivers as much as outside receivers — they play everywhere on the field and we move them around,&quot; Hecklinski said. &quot;The switch is big because of all the little things asked of them - they have to convert routes, pick up checks and route changes and coverages.&quot; </p>
</blockquote>
<p>That is a lot more complicated than what they did last year when the entire passing game was a constraint play. This is necessary to move the offensive forward. I'll discuss it more in the quarterback section, but when Denard's legs were removed from the equation on passing downs YPC dropped to an ugly 5.7—not much better than the 2008 disaster. </p>
<p>There are downsides to this. For example, in the two minute drill stuff after the punting demo Jeremy Gallon twice broke off option routes only to see the quarterbacks chuck it deep. There's going to be an adjustment period here. <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/how-different-is-the-pro-style-for-michigans-receivers-very-but-theyre-coming-along/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">Roundtree</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>“You have to have the timing down in this offense because if the timing is off, then the quarterback is off,” junior receiver <strong>Roy Roundtree</strong> said. “Our receivers want the ball, so we got to get open and keep the timing good for Denard.</p>
<p>Where is that timing at now?</p>
<p>“We’re getting there,” he said. “We still have two more weeks to get ready.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Timing's always important and in the long term this passing offense will be more robust. I just hope we get plenty of last year's stuff in appropriate situations. </p>
<h3>Outside Receiver</h3>
<p><strong>Rating: 3.</strong></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/junior-hemingway-back-shoulder.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="junior-hemingway-back-shoulder" border="0" alt="junior-hemingway-back-shoulder" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/junior-hemingway-back-shoulder_thumb.jpg" width="279" height="229" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/junior-hemingway-illinois-houdnii.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="junior-hemingway-illinois-houdnii" border="0" alt="junior-hemingway-illinois-houdnii" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/junior-hemingway-illinois-houdnii_thumb.jpg" width="274" height="229" /></a></p>
<table style="float: right" width="168">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="166">JUNIOR HEMINGWAY</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="166">like Marquise Walker</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Gtmb33izY" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">we totally planned this</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsFy00vbm5k" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">drags a toe</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxyimT5bU_c&amp;feature=player_embedded" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">also totally planned this</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="166">adjusts well</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEUKmqxjE_8" rel="lightvideo">a back-shoulder leap</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hENmWxuM9Zc" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">little high, no problem</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="166">underneath stuff</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKhFvxavJKU" rel="lightvideo">BGSU slant</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-FpR_OmyKg" rel="lightvideo">cover zero</a> in the alps</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="166">inexplicable yac knack</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU0IIkbbc1M" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">Purdue orbit step</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwETbvXBBHA" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">Illinois Houdini act TD</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ikPK0irv4k" rel="lightvideo">rumblin' stumblin'</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0MGEOmTT4Q" rel="lightvideo">tough to tackle</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8IBQfCf4lM" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">yac knack attack</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="166"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU0IIkbbc1M" rel="lightvideo">not a replay of YKA</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p align="left">Over the summer <strong>Junior Hemingway</strong> ventured into the heart of a South American jungle to perform an arcane rite that would free him of the injury jinx that's plagued him since his arrival Ann Arbor. It worked. It wrought a price on Martavious Odoms, but it worked. Hemingway hasn't been laid up with mono, an ankle sprain, a shoulder problem, or the Black Death in quite a long while. </p>
<p align="left">If he can manage that through the season he's going to end the year with a ton of catches. Even if the Michigan offense doesn't go full MANBALL right away continued development from Denard Robinson will make difficult pro-style throws that frequently target outside wide receivers more feasible; Borges's offense will make them more frequent. Combine that with Hemingway's main skill and there will be jump balls for the taking. </p>
<p align="left">That's convenient. That main skill is being enormous and jumpy. As the table says, he's like Marquise Walker. He's not a guy who's going to blaze past the secondary. There's going to be a corner in the vicinity. If it's going well they're going to watch Hemingway make the catch anyway. What you see at right emphasizes that theme: there's always a guy around, but he's often six inches too short to do anything about it. </p>
<p align="left">A number of the catches are back-shoulder throws that don't necessarily seem intentional. If they aren't they might become so as Borges emphasizes a more sophisticated, <a href="http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=546752" target="_blank">they-tried-to-man-up-Crab</a> passing offense. </p>
<p align="left">The canonical example follows.</p>
<p align="left">
<object width="560" height="345"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lxyimT5bU_c?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;hd=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lxyimT5bU_c?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="345" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p align="left">It might be a mirage conjured by playing next to Darryl Stonum for the last three years, but Hemingway does adjust to the ball in the air pretty well. He doesn't get a ton of separation, but his leaping/box-out ability is top shelf. He does do a good job of finding the ball and bringing it in. </p>
<p align="left">He's also got this strange knack for picking up yards after the catch. He's a 230 pound monster who should get tackled on the catch every time, but this fails to happen with some consistency. There was that ridiculous touchdown against Illinois, for one. The highlights above have a few more examples.</p>
<p align="left">Put the inexplicable YAC knack with his ability to snag downfield jump balls and good enough hands (he had four routine drops on 27 opportunities last year—not good—but snagged 3/5 circus attempts—very good) and you've got a solid Big Ten receiver. He'll see his production increase significantly. If he can maintain his 18.5 YPC he'll challenge Roundtree for the most receiving yards on the team. Expect a bit under 1,000 yards from him.</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/martavious-odoms.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="martavious-odoms" border="0" alt="martavious-odoms" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/martavious-odoms_thumb.jpg" width="315" height="304" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/martavious-odoms-nd.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="martavious-odoms-nd" border="0" alt="martavious-odoms-nd" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/martavious-odoms-nd_thumb.jpg" width="234" height="304" /></a></p>
<table style="float: right" width="166">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="164">MARTAVIOUS ODOMS</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="164">kinda slippery</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPf6ePLQJ_c" rel="lightvideo">quicks way past safety</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY20ajT5nPQ" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">jailbreak screen</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="164">will headbutt you</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrVLn6VMPUE" rel="lightvideo">extended screen block</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC1fRJjJnqw" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">opens the corner</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="164">reliable option</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kj4Cz7Mnfc" rel="lightvideo">comes back to ball </a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfNIiHMTfrk" rel="lightvideo">wide open downfield</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axl8e8HNRew" rel="lightvideo">settles down</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="164"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHQ6Tu7l_Hk" rel="lightvideo">guy on his back no problem</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p align="left"><strong>Martavious Odoms</strong> showed up way down the depth chart a few days ago. I'm not buying that. Hoke wants experience, toughness and blocking, and Odoms provides that. He's going to have to put a third wideout on the field, and Odoms is going to be #3 in snaps after Hemingway and Roundtree. So he's a quasi-starter. </p>
<p align="left">He's probably way down the depth chart because his injury thing is becoming a problem. He missed the second half of last year with a broken foot, spent a big chunk of fall camp <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/michigan-wide-receiver-martavious-odoms-should-be-out-of-his-cast-in-2-weeks/" target="_blank">sporting a cast</a>, showed up with his shoulder in a sling in a CTK episode, and apparently has another cast on now. In context it seems like his depth chart demotion is a health issue and he'll bubble up (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXBE81FYZJ0" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">HA</a>!) when and if that gets resolved. </p>
<p align="left">When on the field Odoms has been a reliable, unthrilling option. Odoms is from Pahokee, so he's small and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3cJjjnzhxA&amp;feature=player_embedded" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">would headbutt a goat</a> if he thought it would get him two yards. His elusiveness is just okay—Roundtree and Hemingway probably have better YAC stats. His hands are good. Over the past two years he's 26/27 on routine catches, 7/10 on somewhat difficult ones, and 2/4 on very difficult ones. On the downside, his lack of height makes him a tougher target. Sometimes balls that Hemingway would grab zing way over his head. </p>
<p align="left">The total package is a useful player but not one that's going to show up in the opposing team's gameplan. If healthy he'll at least double his 16 catches from last year; 45 is the guess here. </p>
<h3 align="left">Backups</h3>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/jeremy-jackson-osu.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="jeremy-jackson-osu" border="0" alt="jeremy-jackson-osu" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/jeremy-jackson-osu_thumb.jpg" width="354" height="274" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/jerald-robinson-camp.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="jerald-robinson-camp" border="0" alt="jerald-robinson-camp" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/jerald-robinson-camp_thumb.jpg" width="158" height="274" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em>Jackson; Robinson (not that Robinson, or that one, or that one)</em></p>
<p align="left">Since we've shuffled Roundtree off to his old position, there's only two guys bigger than a breadbox left. <strong>Jeremy Jackson </strong>is the one you've seen. The son of running backs coach and hyperbole enthusiast Fred, Jackson is a <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2010-recruiting-jeremy-jackson" target="_blank">lanky, &quot;lumbering&quot; possession receiver</a> who seems like the cream of the four-person WR recruiting class of two years ago. That's not a big hill to climb since DJ Williamson transferred, Ricardo Miller moved to tight end, and Jerald Robinson can't get on the depth chart. </p>
<p align="left">He only managed four catches last year but at least they were all against Wisconsin and Ohio State. He'll see his involvement rise as Michigan spreads Stonum's catches around; 15 catches is as good a guess as any. Hope for reliable hands and an ability to get open thanks to his sizeable frame—a poor man's Avant is the goal.</p>
<p><strong>Jerald Robinson</strong> also exists, but not on the depth chart. His <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2010-recruiting-jerald-robinson" target="_blank">recruiting profile</a> makes him out to be a rangy leaper with good hands and some upside on deep balls. His omission from the depth chart was a surprise after the coaches and teammates had <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/how-different-is-the-pro-style-for-michigans-receivers-very-but-theyre-coming-along/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">spent time talking him up</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>“I feel like he’s going to get time,” Roundtree said. “I talked to him the other day, like, ‘Look man, this camp, you got to stay focused, don’t get down because your legs are sore. That’s supposed to happen.’ Jerald’s been having a great camp because he wants to learn and he wants to get better. He can play.” …</p>
<p>“Jerald doesn’t know how good Jerald can be,” wide receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski said. “There’s a lot of times where he’s really, really come along. It goes back to this is just a process.</p>
<p>“There’s some things he looks really, really good at, and there’s some things that we’re going to continue to work with him on.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There were reports that Robinson did not Get It and may be in the process of doing so, FWIW. Hecklinski evidently thinks he has not fully acquired It and will wait to put him on the field until he has safely done so. He's a guy to look at for next year. <a href="http://detnews.com/article/20110823/SPORTS0201/108230333/1131/rss17" target="_blank">Borges says</a> &quot;he seems like he has a future here,&quot; which is not a present here. He's just a redshirt freshman, after all.</p>
<p align="left">Though the short guys are probably going to play outside as much as they do inside I'll cover them in the slot section. </p>
<h3><strong>Slot Receiver</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Rating: 4.</strong></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roy-roundtree-indiana-2010.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="roy-roundtree-indiana-2010" border="0" alt="roy-roundtree-indiana-2010" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roy-roundtree-indiana-2010_thumb.jpg" width="243" height="294" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roy-roundtree-notre-dame.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="" border="0" alt="" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roy-roundtree-notre-dame_thumb.jpg" width="309" height="294" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Roy Roundtree</strong> is an eventful dude whether he's hand-wavingly wide open for a touchdown or dooming Michigan to turn the ball over by dropping the ball. Thanks to a massive game in the insane triple-OT Illinois thriller he finished as the Big Ten's second-leading receiver. </p>
<p>A large chunk of that is thanks to Denard's legs. There's a certain theme running through many of Roundtree's long receptions: desolation. When Denard catches the safety the resulting throw looks like post-apocalyptic football. Where is everyone? They're dead. Let's run through this tumbleweed-infested secondary. </p>
<p><object width="560" height="345"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XpvRGpGebsk?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;hd=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XpvRGpGebsk?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="345" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p>That did not take a ton of skill on Roundtree's part. </p>
<p>But there is a reason he leapt off the bench during the 2009 Michigan State game and has been the favorite target of whoever's at QB since. For one, he's more slippery than you'd think. Michigan's recruited a horde of 5'9&quot; YAC guys but it's Roundtree who gets targeted on bubbles. It's easy to see why:</p>
<p><object width="560" height="345"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wUJbocSx2YE?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;hd=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wUJbocSx2YE?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="345" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<table style="float: right" width="172">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="170">ROY ROUNDTREE</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="170">the worst waldo</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc_vgpUPeGo" rel="lightvideo">blindingly wide open</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTJTUB_Qz4" rel="lightvideo">Indiana oh noes</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4RmWc4ZT_w" rel="lightvideo">breaks wide open</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPYNWfQGOcg" rel="lightvideo">safety just barely gets him</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftqDOZ4Lu8U" rel="lightvideo">fourth down TD</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="170">toughish catches</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mQiOEiVA2c" rel="lightvideo">gets crushed; hangs on</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxZnzhGE_zI" rel="lightvideo">20 against UW</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7GNXUzuGQ4" rel="lightvideo">guy on his back</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voLTQPi62jY" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">over the shoulder</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="170">YAC snacks</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ggMjQbPD8" rel="lightvideo">jukes two different guys</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUJbocSx2YE" rel="lightvideo">smokes him on a juke</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="170"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LssbrqijYM" rel="lightvideo">shakes CB for TD</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Odoms doesn't have much like that on his resume and Gallon is just a rumor. Roundtree's only competition is Hemingway's inexplicable YAC knack. </p>
<p>And his hands are pretty good despite the drops—four in 41 opportunities in the first 11 games last year. He gets targeted a lot. They could be better, sure, but I think everyone remembers them more because instead of converting a first down after Roundtree drops a ball Michigan immediately turned the ball over on three separate occasions. Those tend to burn themselves into your head. Hemingway had the same number of drops in 27 opportunities last year but you only hear about Roundtree's fumblefingers moments. Not that they don't rankle. It's just that I think our subjective memories are not 100% reliable in this matter. </p>
<p>If they move him outside he'll lose his spot as the designated hand-wavingly-open dude jetting past safeties. I think that would be a mistake since he's an easier target to hit than any the other options. When things opened up for the slot last year they often opened so wide that the only things that mattered were 1) how easy is it for Denard to hit him and 2) being faster than a tight end so no one catches him. Roundtree fit on both counts.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, moving outside may make him vulnerable to getting jammed at the line. As a slight guy who hasn't had to deal with that much in his career I can see that going poorly. A corner can get into him—under him—and disrupt his business. He's probably still the second best option out there in those circumstances; he's just not going to be as effective. </p>
<p>Roundtree's production will drop this year as Michigan tries to get Hemingway and Koger more involved. He can't expect set the single-game receiving record every year. He'll still run neck and neck with Hemingway fro the most receiving yards on the team.</p>
<h3>Backups</h3>
<p>If there's one thing that is a must-recycle from last year's preview it's this stunning <strong>Kelvin Grady</strong> wallpaper: </p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/kelvin_gradywallpaper.png" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="kelvin_grady-wallpaper" border="0" alt="kelvin_grady-wallpaper" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/kelvin_gradywallpaper_thumb.png" width="564" height="354" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em>DOWNLOAD NOW INSTALL NOW KEEP FOREVERRRR</em></p>
<table style="float: right" width="139">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="137">KELVIN GRADY</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th width="137">tough snags</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FbV1Hjyr0w" rel="lightvideo">four-verts sit</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AULx1ukXBI" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">over the shoulder</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOu6WBr4C5E" rel="lightvideo">gets nailed but hangs on</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O5ogX1STMY" rel="lightvideo">a bullet he snags</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NurAeb98XFQ" rel="lightvideo">spins to catch it</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTUnanQBAps" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">lit up and hangs on</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th width="137">designated reverse guy</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Yb4mjYPRA" rel="lightvideo">an alley outside</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td width="137"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOzHgyP80e0" rel="lightvideo">just outruns dudes</a> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>I have no memory where that came from, unfortunately. I would like to find this person and see if they have excessively dramatic wallpapers for Nate Brink yet. I bet the text reads &quot;on the BRINK of a REVOLUTION.&quot; </p>
<p>Anyway: Grady. He moved over from the basketball team and dropped a lot of balls two years ago, whereupon he was dropped from the lineup when Roy Roundtree burst onto the scene. When Odoms moved outside last year he got another shot and did surprisingly well with it. The hands issues disappeared—while he did have one routine drop on nine attempts he was six of six on more difficult stuff—as he became the designated reverse guy. By the end of the year it was a litte disappointing they hadn't used him more. </p>
<p>Entering his final season Grady's best shot at extensive playing time is based on 1) a lot of three wide and 2) Roundtree playing mostly on the outside. In that situation he's the established veteran. He'd get a crack at screens and seams and whatnot en route to a breakout mini-'Tree year. More likely is a moderately increased role as Roundtree bounces inside and out with around 30 catches.</p>
<p>It could go sour for Grady if <strong>Jeremy Gallon</strong> translates chatter into playing time. Gallon came to Michigan with a ton of hype and a <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/jeremy-gallon-vs-snoop" target="_blank">stunning resemblance</a> to <em>The Wire's</em> Snoop…</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/jeremygallonmug.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="jeremy-gallon-mug" border="0" alt="jeremy-gallon-mug" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/jeremygallonmug_thumb.jpg" width="154" height="224" /></a> <a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/snoopthewire.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="snoop-the-wire" border="0" alt="snoop-the-wire" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Preview2010ReceiversofAllVarieties_2147/snoopthewire_thumb.jpg" width="220" height="224" /></a><em> <br />annual reminder</em></p>
<p>…and then failed to do much other than not field the punts he should, field the punts he shouldn't, and fumble kickoffs. He had the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpsEa0aRikY" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">occasional</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVv8dkDN-GU" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">nice screen</a> last year. </p>
<p>Normally this would spell another year on the bench making people wonder what <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2009-recruiting-jeremy-gallon" target="_blank">the big deal</a> was all about. Stonum's suspension and the injury curse migrating to Odoms gives him an opening. If you listen to the coaches he seems to be taking advantage of the opportunity.</p>
<p>As a result he passed Odoms on the official depth chart, though this preview assumes that's because of injury. Perhaps more interesting is surging ahead of Jackson and Robinson, who are closer to the strapping downfield leapers the pro-style offense generally prefers. Gallon had seemingly fallen behind Jackson in particular late last year. </p>
<p>(Gallon's special teams contributions are covered in a separate section.)</p>
<p>Sophomore <strong>Drew Dileo</strong> is basically Wes Welker, of course. He had one catch for three yards a year ago and will probably have to wait another year for some of the small guy logjam to clear before he gets significant time. I can't understand why he's not returning punts since that's supposedly <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/2010-recruiting-drew-dileo" target="_blank">what he was recruited to do</a> and Gallon has been maddening, but there are now two coaching staffs who have come to the same conclusion about the depth chart there.</p>
<p>Finally, <strong>Terrance Robinson's</strong> still around. He's been conspicuously absent from both press conference chatter and the depth chart. He's been passed by younger guys in Dileo, Gallon, and Jackson. He's probably not going to see time. Here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLiM4uhuUBw" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">this catch he had last year</a>, though.</p>
<h3><strong>Tight End</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Rating: 4.</strong></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/kevin-koger-drop.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="kevin-koger-drop" border="0" alt="kevin-koger-drop" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/kevin-koger-drop_thumb.jpg" width="280" height="229" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/kevin-koger-wow.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="kevin-koger-wow" border="0" alt="kevin-koger-wow" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/kevin-koger-wow_thumb.jpg" width="275" height="229" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Kevin Koger</strong> can't go twenty minutes without someone asking him if he's excited for an increased role in the offense as if he or Martell Webb weren't on the field for 80% of Michigan's snaps last year. The conventional wisdom holds that blocking ain't playin', apparently. </p>
<p>Koger did a lot of that last year and was effective but not stellar. Webb was clearly a superior blocker and was the preferred choice when Michigan got close to the goal line and things got hairy. While Koger was preferred in the passing game, it wasn't by much. His 14 catches were nine more than Webb's five.</p>
<p>Is that going to change this year? If they run the I-form a lot, maybe. That takes the slot off the field and makes the tight end the natural target in the seam areas that are so deliciously open because of Denard's running. I'm not sure how you get opponents to vacate those when you're under center (fake QB draws?), but if anyone can do it it's Denard. When Michigan's in the shotgun he'll have competition from Roundtree, et al., in those zones and it's clear Denard's comfort level is higher with 'Tree. </p>
<p>Koger's lack of participation in the passing game may be his own doing. Two years ago he started the season by making a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0sKOi8wP90" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">series</a> of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpHxipTMncE" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">ridiculous</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e_cp7eU3b4" rel="lightvideo" target="_blank">catches</a>, then blew all that goodwill and more by catching just 7 of 11 routine opportunities. He was 9/9 last year on those, which helps but still gets him to 16 of 20 all-time— still worse than anyone on the team last year. If he's dropping stuff in practice the lack of attention is not related to the spread. I know there was that one year that Tim Massaqoui broke his hand and Mike DeBord kept throwing to him, but I choose to believe that little wrinkle was unique to The Avalanche.&#160; </p>
<p>Koger's role will be up to him. He'll be somewhere between a B- and B+ blocker and will have opportunities to establish himself a major part of the passing game. Our sample size on his hands is still very small and the bad part is now two years removed and he's quite an athlete—his upside is high. I can't help but think he's been held back by things other than Rich Rodriguez's preferences, though. I'm betting on a good but unmemorable senior year.</p>
<h3>Backups</h3>
<p align="left"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Brandon-Moore-2.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Brandon Moore 2" border="0" alt="Brandon Moore 2" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Brandon-Moore-2_thumb.jpg" width="273" height="216" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/steve-watson.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="steve-watson" border="0" alt="steve-watson" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/steve-watson_thumb.jpg" width="279" height="217" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em>Moore; weird guy with weird hat and Watson</em></p>
<p align="left">There are a couple scholarship options behind Koger but they're not particularly encouraging. Despite being a big time recruit, redshirt junior <strong>Brandon Moore</strong> has hardly been seen on the field outside of baby seal clubbings. Even if he did have a couple of quality options ahead of him on the depth chart, the third tight end should see snaps here and there if he's quality. </p>
<p align="left">More ominous yet has been the total lack of buzz surrounding him in fall. Borges's only mention of the guys behind Koger was when he was directly asked about TEs other than the starter. The <a href="http://wisconsin.scout.com/2/1094528.html" target="_blank">result</a>: </p>
<blockquote><p align="left">I think Brandon Moore has done a nice job. He is still climbing if you know what I mean. He is getting better every single day and Steve Watson is a solid player. I think we’re pretty deep there. I think we’re pretty deep. Because Kog got hurt in the spring, those other guys got a lot of reps.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">That seems to be something to file under coachspeak. We'll see; given Moore's physical talents he could surprise. </p>
<p>And then there's <strong>Steve Watson</strong>, who came in as a tight end, got moved to DE, linebacker, TE again, and then started playing FB—he appears on both depth charts. I imagine he'll get some time near the goal line as a threat out of the backfield and out of necessity when Borges feels the need for a big set. At this point it's hard to think he'll do much with it.</p>
<p><strong>Ricardo Miller's</strong> the lone other TE on the roster. After moving from WR he's up to 234 pounds, which is far too little to see the field unless the roof caves in.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2011-receivers-all-varieties#commentsbrandon moorejerald robinsonjeremy gallonjeremy jacksonjunior hemingwaykelvin gradykevin kogermartavious odomspreview 2011roy roundtreesteve watsontight endswide recieversWed, 31 Aug 2011 21:13:29 +0000Brian58555 at http://mgoblog.com